At a UN Security Council meeting on the nearly two-year war sparked by Russia's special operations in Ukraine, Russia's envoy asserted that the US was spreading "disinformation".
However, the envoy did not completely deny allegations that Russia was using North Korean weapons, an action that US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood and US allies asserted was a violation of UN resolutions.
Previously, the US and seven other countries accused Russia of abusing its position as a permanent member with veto power at the Council by purchasing missiles from North Korea and using them against Ukraine, violating the Council's resolution.
“A permanent member of the Security Council willing to commit these violations clearly demonstrates its abuse of position,” said a statement by permanent members Britain, France and the United States, along with non-permanent members Malta, Slovenia, South Korea, Japan and Ukraine.
Russia's veto power at the Council, along with Britain, China, France and the United States, makes it impossible for the organization to sanction Moscow.
The White House said last week that Russia used short-range ballistic missiles of North Korean origin to launch multiple attacks on Ukraine, citing newly declassified intelligence.
Moscow and Pyongyang have both denied allegations of arms exchanges, but in 2023 the two countries have pledged to strengthen military ties.
Russia has recently carried out some of its fiercest attacks during the nearly two-year-old war in Ukraine.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya asserted that the Security Council session proposed by Western countries was an act of “anti-Russian propaganda” but did not completely deny that Moscow had launched a North Korean missile at Ukraine.
“Today, the Western members of the Security Council repeated the ‘true information’ that the Russian military is using missiles supplied by the DPRK in its special operations in Ukraine,” he said, adding that a representative of the Ukrainian Air Force had said there was no evidence to support “these ‘true information’. And the United States appears to be spreading disinformation without checking it.”
The South Korean ambassador asserted that Russia's use of North Korean missiles gives Pyongyang "valuable technical and military information" about the weapons the country produces.
“By exporting missiles to Russia, the DPRK is using Ukraine as a test site for its nuclear-capable missiles,” South Korean envoy Hwang Joon-kook said.
“Some experts have identified the Russian missiles launched at Ukraine as KN-23 missiles, which North Korea claims can carry nuclear warheads,” he said. He also said one missile traveled 460 kilometers, the distance from its launch site in North Korea to the South Korean city of Busan.
“From the South Korean perspective, this is a simulated attack,” he asserted.
Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)
Source
Comment (0)