Comment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on russia's veto of the UN Security Council draft resolution on the extension of the mandate of the Panel of Experts of the 1718 Sanctions Committee (DPRK)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine condemns russia’s March 28, 2024 veto on the draft UN Security Council resolution under the agenda item "Non-proliferation/Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on extending the mandate of the Panel of Experts of the Sanctions Committee 1718 (2006).

Over the past 14 years, the Panel of Experts has played an important role in independent and objective monitoring and investigation of the implementation of sanctions against the DPRK, exposing Pyongyang's illegal development of nuclear and missile programmes in violation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Because of russia's veto, the Panel of Experts will be forced to cease its activities on April 30, 2024. This gravely undermines the international non-proliferation regime and deals a serious blow to the overall sanctions mechanism against the DPRK, which is now also under threat.

By abusing its illegitimate presence in the Security Council's permanent seat, russia is once again undermining the authority of this body in maintaining international peace and security. 

The rejection of the draft resolution will only encourage the DPRK to further develop its nuclear and missile programmes, thereby increasing threats to global and regional security, and delaying the prospects for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. 

russia vetoed the resolution at the very time when the Panel of Experts officially launched its investigation into moscow's violations of the arms embargo imposed on the DPRK by purchasing arms and ammunition from Pyongyang, including ballistic missiles used by the russian aggressor in its war against Ukraine.

russia's destructive move only confirms its interest in lifting the sanctions regime, which moscow obviously sees as an obstacle to deepening military cooperation between the two regimes. In fact, this is russia’s guilty plea confirming that it received arms and ammunition in violation of sanctions and used weapons of North Korean origin in the war against Ukraine.

The dismantling of the Group's activities is in line with russia's criminal aims to further strengthen military capabilities of authoritarian regimes.

We call on all UN Member States to condemn russia's veto of the draft resolution on the extension of the mandate of the Panel of Experts of the 1718 (2006) Sanctions Committee and the gross violations of UN Security Council resolutions by moscow and Pyongyang, as well as to take decisive steps to put an end to the supply of arms and ammunition from the DPRK to russia for the needs of russia’s war against Ukraine.