Alwaght- China and Russia are pushing for relief of the United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea by reviving a 2019 attempt to remove a ban on Pyongyang’s exports of statues, seafood and textiles.
Sources familiar with the effort said that they are also trying to expand the motion to include lifting a refined petroleum imports cap.
China and Russia want the 15-member council to remove those sanctions “with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population” in the isolated Asian state, Reuters news agency reported saying that it saw a version of the draft resolution.
Pyongyang has been under the UN sanctions since 2006 for its missile and nuclear programs.
The draft resolution also includes other measures first proposed by Russia and China nearly two years ago, including lifting a ban on North Koreans working abroad and exempting inter-Korean rail and road cooperation projects from sanctions, reported Aljazeera news network.
A number of the diplomats said that the revised draft bill will meet little support as the West is against such a relief amid a stalemate with Pyeongyang which proved defiant.
North Korean leaders say that they need their weapons for deterrence as their country is under ongoing threat of invasion from the West.
However, the US says that there will be no lifting of the embargo until Pyongyang shows compliance.
“The Security Council has repeatedly affirmed that it is prepared to modify, suspend, or lift the measures as may be needed in light of the DPRK’s compliance,” the spokesperson to the US mission to the UN said, referring to the acronym of the official name of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
On October 20, the country tested new submarine-launched missile that had “advanced control guidance technologies” which could make it harder to track.
In June 2019, Donald Trump met the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and hopes grew about a deal. However, the efforts fell as the US insisted that Pyongyang needs to destroys its nuclear and missile capabilities before Washington would look into lifting the sanctions.
