It is apparent that Russia wants to increase its leverage in its international dealings with North Korea. The first such sign came at the U.N. Security Council where it is effectively delaying the adoption of a resolution for new sanctions against North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations.
Russian officials said their government -- including concerned ministries in Moscow -- needed time to examine the draft of the resolution. This is understandable, as Russia – despite being one of the five permanent members of the council – did not participate in the drafting process.
But anyone with a little knowledge of international relations might guess that Russia did not merely want to do its homework before signing the resolution.
Russia may well have been uncomfortable with the fact that the resolution – said to be the toughest-ever against North Korea – was mainly drafted by the U.S. and China. People in the Kremlin may have wanted to send the message that Russia can and will exert influence in dealing with North Korea.
In fact, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov strongly hinted that Moscow would try to influence the level of sanctions against North Korea.
In telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Lavrov was quoted as saying that the U.N. sanctions must consider the dire “humanitarian situation” in the impoverished country and that they should not damage legitimate relationships between North Korea and its foreign partners.
In other words, the Russian minister was saying that the impending sanctions against North Korea should not be as severe as countries like South Korea, the U.S. and Japan want to be.
As the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. noted, the draft new resolution against North Korea is the “strongest set of sanctions” imposed by the Security Council since those on Iraq in 1990.
It includes mandatory inspections of all cargo going into and coming out of North Korea, bans on exports of all small arms and other conventional weapons to the North and expansion of global financial sanctions on its banks and assets.
The resolution also prohibits the supply of aviation fuel, including rocket fuel, bans North Korean exports of gold, titanium and rare earth minerals and adds 30 new people and entities to a U.N. blacklist for travel and trade.
The council’s determination reflects the fact that the previous four resolutions have failed to stop Pyongyang from developing weapons of mass destruction. We all know that China -- and to a lesser degree Russia -- were responsible for removing the teeth from the past sanctions.
This time, China -- in a reversal of its attitude, perhaps due to Washington and Seoul’s moves to deploy a U.S. advanced missile defense system under its nose -- seems to be more cooperative than in the past. This should not tempt Russia to fill the void.
Looking back, Russia – or to be exact its predecessor, the Soviet Union – was the major patron of North Korea, from its birth under Kim Il-sung to the Korean War and even its early nuclear and missile programs. It cannot avoid blame for contributing to what the Korean Peninsula is today.
Moreover, it has an obligation to help resolve the North Korean issues as a member of the six-party talks on the North’s nuclear development. Any politically motivated deviation from the international mission would face condemnation.
For their part, South Korea, U.S. and Japan should not underestimate the Russia factor and try to embrace it in their endeavors to cope with North Korea. This is all the more important because the international community may face further North Korean provocations once the new sanctions are enforced.
