A new draft United Nations Security Council measure does not block all oil imports to North Korea, and weakens other provisions of the original American proposal. A vote is expected on Monday evening.
UNITED NATIONS — The Trump administration has backed away from some of the most stringent penalties it had sought to impose on North Korea, in an apparent effort to draw Russian and Chinese backing for a new raft of sanctions over the country’s nuclear weapons advances.
A revised draft resolution of the United Nations Security Council, circulated to members late Sunday night after negotiations through the weekend, sets a cap on oil exports to North Korea, but does not block them altogether, as the Trump administration had originally proposed .
The resolution asks countries around the world to inspect ships going in and out of North Korea’s ports but does not authorize the use of force for ships that do not comply.
The resolution also requires that those inspections be done with the consent of the countries where the ships are registered, which opens the door to violations. The original language proposed by the United States would have empowered American forces to interdict ships suspected of carrying weapons material or fuel into North Korea and to use “all necessary measures” to enforce compliance.
