The veto underscored the growing rift between Russia and the United States, plus its Western allies, since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. U.S. officials also allege that North Korea has been transferring weapons to Russia for its war effort.
Since its establishment in 2009, the panel of independent experts has monitored the enforcement of U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea since 2006 in response to the country’s nuclear and missile activities.
The vote does not affect the existing U.N. sanctions on North Korea, which remain in effect.
In recent years, the U.N. Security Council has been divided in its enforcement of sanctions on North Korea.
In recent weeks, many North Korea observers had anticipated that Russia may finally pull the plug on the panel’s mandate.
“Though the panel of experts is not being renewed, the sanctions regime on North Korea is still very present and will continue to monitor the violations in different ways,” Oh said.
Griffiths noted that one of the important functions of the panel was providing an independent assessment of the companies and individuals that were violating financial sanctions on North Korea or supporting its proliferation networks. »
