World News & Politics

Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution yesterday that would have extended the mandate of a panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear program. The mandate had been extended annually for 14 years. (AP)

Our Take
For the past decade, opposition to North Korea’s nuclear program was one of the last remaining consensus issues to survive growing geopolitical tensions between the West, on one side, and Russia and China, on the other. Of course, Moscow and especially Beijing have been accused of being lax when it comes to the enforcement of sanctions against Pyongyang. But both had at least paid lip service to the issue on the international stage.
Now, Russia’s veto has brought an end to even that, with Moscow accusing the West of seeking to “strangle” North Korea with the sanctions.

The main factor driving this shift is Russia’s growing security ties with North Korea. Amid the war in Ukraine, Pyongyang has reportedly sold millions of munitions, including short-range ballistic missiles, to Moscow, in violation of the U.N. sanctions. Now, although the sanctions remain in place, the lack of any watchdog to monitor them will make it much easier for Russia to continue and even expand these purchases.

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