U.S., EU criticise Russia for veto to end U.N. sanctions monitoring of North Korea

Russia faced a mounting backlash on March 29 after using its veto power to effectively end official U.N. monitoring of sanctions on North Korea amid a probe into alleged arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Russia faced a mounting backlash on March 29 after using its veto power to effectively end official U.N. monitoring of sanctions on North Korea amid a probe into alleged arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Russia's UN Security Council veto on March 28 blocked the renewal of the panel of experts tasked with investigating violations of sanctions tied to North Korea's banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

South Korea's foreign ministry slammed the move as an "irresponsible decision".

Also Read | The quick transformation of Russia-North Korea ties

Seoul has accused Pyongyang of sending thousands of containers of weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine, and Russia's move was "almost comparable to destroying a CCTV to avoid being caught red-handed", said Hwang Joon-kook, South Korea's U.N. ambassador.

The Kremlin defended its veto saying U.N. sanctions on North Korea were hindering dialogue and peace on the Korean peninsula and had not aided regional security.

"Over the years, international restrictive measures have not helped to improve the security situation in the region," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.