ussia said Thursday that it was holding up release of a report by U.N. experts who said North Korea is violating U.N. sanctions by not stopping its nuclear and missile programs and by engineering “a massive increase in illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters after a closed Security Council meeting on the report that he was blocking its release “because we disagree on certain elements of the report.”
He said Russia also asked for an investigation into regular leaks of reports on North Korea to the media. The Associated Press and other news organizations reported the panel’s latest findings in early August.
Nebenzia didn’t disclose Russia’s concerns, but diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations were private, said a key objection was the panel’s mention of Russian ships being involved in illegal ship-to-ship transfers.
Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce, the current Security Council president, said there would be informal consultations Friday to determine what Russia’s objections are in hopes of finalizing and releasing the report.
