White House-Russia Veto Of UN Monitoring Panel 'Reckless'

The White House National Security Council coordinator John Kirby referred to the Russian veto an a UN Security Council measure interned to extend the UN's monitoring panel in North Korea for another year "reckless", adding that it "further undermines" UNSC actions regarding Pyongyang's nuclear programme and sanctions implementation.

• South Korean outlet Yonhap reportsthe veto as,"....an unprecedented move likely to undermine global efforts to curb Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats. The council failed to adopt a new resolution meant to extend the mandate of the Panel of Experts by another year as Russia vetoed it amid its call for an annual extension of UNSC sanctions against Pyongyang. The panel's mandate is now set to expire on April 30."
• Reuters: "Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia questioned the experts' work, telling the Security Council before the vote: "Its work is increasingly being reduced to playing into the hands of Western approaches, reprinting biased information and analyzing newspaper headlines and poor quality photos.""
• Russo-North Korean relations have come under increasing international scrutiny in recent months amid reports that the regime of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has supplied weaponry and munitions to Russia for use in its war on Ukraine in exchange for food supplies, raw materials, and parts used in weapons manufacturing.
• The use of North Korean weaponry in a battlefield scenario will also provide useful data for Pyongyang as it continues to seek technological advancement in its ballistic missile programme.