Official: US claims of N Korea sanctions breach by Moscow groundless

MOSCOW, Jan 31 (PRIME) -- Accusations by the U.S. Department of State that Russia has violated the U.N. sanctions against North Korea by providing its ports for coal transshipments have not been confirmed, Russian ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora told PRIME in an interview released on Wednesday.

“The information I possess allows me to say with confidence that such reports and accusations of Russia are groundless,” Matsegora said. “They gave us names of some vessels, ports several times. But anytime we rechecked the data, it turned out that such vessels didn’t enter our ports and if they did, they carried or requested cargo having no relation to North Korea.”

Fuel importers to North Korea must not stop their supplies because this move can trigger a war and humanitarian issues in the country, the ambassador said.

“Officials of Pyongyang have reiterated that a blockade will be perceived by North Korea as a declaration of war with all due outcomes,” Matsegora said.

“An acute shortfall of gasoline and diesel fuel is noticeable in North Korea already now which is leading to serious issues including humanitarian ones. We cannot reduce any further,” Matsegora said.

The quota set for North Korea by the U.N. Security Council is 540,000 tonnes of crude from China and about 60,000 tonnes of oil products from China, Russia and other countries per year, he said.

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