Russia has blocked a UN Security Council statement calling for “significant measures” in response to North Korea’s test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, arguing that the missile was in fact of medium range.
The United States circulated the statement for adoption by the 15-member council after announcing plans for a new sanctions resolution, but Russia raised objections, UN diplomats said.
The draft statement recalled that the council agreed to take “further significant measures” in the event of another nuclear test or missile launch and that the top UN body would “begin to work immediately on such measures”.
Russia, though, contested the statement’s reference to an intercontinental missile launched by North Korea, diplomats said.
The Russian mission to the United Nations insisted it had not blocked the statement but rather suggested that the United States “make appropriate amendments to it”.
“The Russian delegation could not agree to define the launch as an intercontinental ballistic missile test,” the mission said, adding that the Russian defense ministry believed, based on its tracking systems, that the missile was of medium-range.
The United States refused to drop the reference to the intercontinental missile and negotiations on the proposed text ended, diplomats said.
The United States and the United Nations have said the Hwasong-14 launched on Tuesday was of intercontinental range.
The draft statement included a strong condemnation of the launch, setting the stage for a draft resolution on tougher sanctions that the United States said it planned to present in the coming days.
Addressing an emergency council meeting on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said Moscow opposed the move, arguing that “sanctions will not resolve the issue”.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley called the launch “a clear and sharp military escalation” and warned that Washington was ready to use military force “but we prefer not to have to go in that direction”.
The launch, described by leader Kim Jong-Un as a “gift” to Americans as they prepared to celebrate Independence Day, marked a milestone in Pyongyang’s decades-long drive for the capability to threaten the US mainland with a nuclear strike.
US President Donald Trump said he was considering some “very severe things” to respond to North Korea’s test launch, calling the country’s behaviour “a shame”.
He said North Korea was behaving in a “very, very dangerous manner” and that something would have to be done about it.
