Sanctions against DPRK will not work as Russia, China help bypass, former Ukraine FM says

Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2014-2019, believes that the approach of increasing sanctions pressure on North Korea will not work, because Russia and China will help bypass them. The West needs to cut off the country's ability to get technology, he said in a comment for LIGA.net.

"It is impossible to impose any sanctions on Kim Jong Un, which Russia or China would not help him to break," said the former foreign minister.

According to Klimkin, the North Korean dictator wants to "raise the stakes" against the background of the American elections and to cooperate better with his Russian "colleague" Vladimir Putin.

"Kim Jong Un perfectly understands that Russia needs his weapons now, and if so, then it is necessary to take from Russia not weapons, but technologies. This asymmetric exchange, I believe, is fundamentally dangerous for the interests of the United States and its allies," he stated.

The diplomat drew attention to another way of deterring the DPRK – cutting off the receipt of technological items.

"Anyway, North Korea's weapons need microcircuits, they need electronics, which they don't produce. In order to live, they need oil, which they don't have and which Putin supplies. A different approach is needed – more sanctions definitely don't work in the case of North Korea," concluded Klimkin.

On Thursday, the WSJ wrote that North Korea had already transferred ballistic missiles to Russia. Ukraine's Defense Intelligence is checking these reports.

On the same day, the White House confirmed that Russia received ballistics from North Korea and used them during attacks on Ukraine on December 29 and January 2.

On Friday, Washington's ambassador to the UN said that the United States expects that Russia will continue to use ballistic missiles from North Korea to strike critical infrastructure in Ukraine and kill civilians.

Klimkin also stated in an interview with LIGA.net that North Korea is gaining combat experience in the use of ballistic missiles by transferring them to Russia. This, in his opinion, threatens not only Ukraine, but also Western allies.