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UNITED NATIONS: Russia has asked the United Nations Security Council to discuss North Korea sanctions on Thursday, diplomats said, a move that comes after a US meeting and North Korean officials in New York this week was postponed.
Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang believed it necessary to consider adjusting the sanctions at an appropriate time.
The 15-member Security Council has unanimously boosted sanctions on North Korea since 2006 in a bid to choke off funding for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
China and Russia have said the council should reward Pyongyang for "positive developments" after US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June and Kim pledged to work toward denuclearization.
But the United States and other Western powers have said sanctions must be enforced until there is full denuclearization. US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has also accused Russia of cheating on US sanctions on North Korea.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had been due to meet senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol in New York on Thursday to try to pave the way for a second summit between Trump and Kim and make progress on denuclearization.
The State Department announced on Wednesday that the talks would be rescheduled, but gave no reason for the delay. North Korea's mission did not immediately respond to a request for a postponement of the talks.
North Korea 's foreign ministry told the United Nations in September that the United States is still in the process of acquiring its position.
In July, Russia and China delayed a US push for the Security Council's sanctions to a halt to refined petroleum exports to North Korea, asking for more details on a US accusation that Pyongyang had breached sanctions, diplomats said.
Reuters
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