SEOUL, Russia accused South Korea and the Western countries Wednesday of waging a “sanctions war” against Moscow, after Seoul implied Russia violated U.N. sanctions with its gift of a luxury car to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman at Russia’s foreign ministry, said that any issue with the compliance obligation should be raised at the U.N. level instead of complaining over the microphone and that South Korea should think about the “illegal” sanctions it has imposed against Moscow.
“If Seoul has questions about the ‘compliance with U.N. sanctions’ concerning North Korea, they should not rush to the microphones but rather address the U.N. Security Council Sanctions Committee,” Zakharova said in a Telegram message, reposted by the Russian Embassy in Seoul on its social media channel.
“By the way, let’s also discuss the 12,000-plus illegal sanctions against Russia and the West’s sanctions war that undermines the very nature of international law,” she said.
Her remarks came a day af
ter South Korea called for Russia’s obligation in complying with UNSC sanctions against Pyongyang following the report on the gift to Kim from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow later confirmed that it was a Russian-made Aurus Senat.
The delivery of such a gift could be a violation of the U.N. sanctions banning any supply and transfer of luxury goods to the North.
Zakharova took a swipe at Washington for exerting pressure on Seoul to make it violate “legitimate” trade relations with other countries.
“I think it would be appropriate to ask the advocates of international legal purity what harm illegal sanctions inflict on people worldwide, when due to the West’s sanctions wars, they cannot access food, medicine and vaccines,” she said.
Russia and North Korea have deepened their ties since Kim and Putin held the rare summit in September last year. Pyongyang is suspected of providing weapons to Moscow for use in the war in Ukraine in exchange for Russia’s potential transfer of weapons technology.
South
Korea has joined the U.S.-led international moves in imposing sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Source: Yonhap News Agency