Russia and China have targeted at the United States during a landmark UN General Assembly session, which took place on Wednesday, blaming Washington of stoking tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The session was taken place for Beijing and Moscow to explain their plans past month to veto a draft resolution by the US in the Security Council that would have levied fresh sanctions on North Korea.
Meanwhile, China’s ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, hit out at Washington’s approach to Pyongyang, stating that tension on the peninsula has “developed to what it is today, mainly due to the flip flop of US guidelines,” before making a plea for easing sanctions against North Korea.
At the same time, Moscow’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Anna Evstigneeva, has also called for the sanctions to be lifted.
North Korea requires more humanitarian aid, and the West should stop accusing Pyongyang for tensions, she said.
While speaking for the United States, deputy ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis has dismissed the blames, adding the current sanctions, as well as proposals to add more, are in direct response to North Korea’s actions.
“We seek a discussion with Pyongyang without preconditions. We have also spread this message through private channels, including high-level personal messages from senior US officials to senior DPRK officials,” he added, using an acronym for North Korea.
Washington assumes North Korea, which has carried out a storm of sanctions-busting weapons tests this year, is poised to test a fresh nuclear weapon.
Pyongyang’s ambassador, Kim Song, has disclosed his country’s military tests by stressing that articles of the UN Charter “clearly stipulate that every state has inherent rights of an individual or collective self-defence.”