Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said that sanctions against North Korea “cannot replace diplomacy”, speaking from UN headquarters in New York City on Monday.
“The American permanent representative in her emotional statement did not tell you that there was an agreement to our compromise on the part of your experts as well. What changed the next day when you recalled it? I do hope that you do understand that the situation today is such that it is your delegation who banned the conveyance of the panel of experts’ report to the Security Council and you are the ones who are preventing the publication of an independent report.”
“What is being said that the Russians are trying to exert pressure on the panel of experts. Well, we would like to once and for all put an end to such insinuations. In actual fact what is happening is this: the work of the panel of experts which because of decisions beyond our control became increasingly politicized, they became ultimately the hostages to the vision of Washington. The panel has to be guided by the principles of objectivity and impartiality. Unfortunately, the document that they’ve prepared in its first version did not meet those standards. In this regard, we and other members of the committee expressed a number of comments which were viewed correctly by the experts and then taken onboard when they transferred the report to the Security Council.”
: “Introducing changes to the report of the panel of expert is a perfectly normal practice for the deliberations of a subsidiary body of the council. I would like to underscore here that no one is trying to undermine the independence of the experts. But let’s not forget that they do not work in a vacuum.”
“I suggest the Security Council members consider creating special conditions on the 1718 commissions for the request for a temporary exemption from checks from the sanctions resumed for the implementation of inter-Korean cooperation projects. As far as I know both sides to the DMZ line share this idea.”
“Restrictive measures which were introduced by the Security Council resolutions against DPRK cannot be an end in itself. They have to be an instrument in tool in order to involve the country in constructive negotiations. Resolving the nuclear issue of the peninsula through just some sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang is impossible. Sanctions cannot replace diplomacy.”