Despite a push to quickly slap new UN sanctions on North Korea, the United States is bogged down in « slow-going » negotiations with China on a response to Pyongyang’s first ICBM launch, diplomats said Wednesday.
UNITED NATIONS, United States — Despite a push to quickly slap new UN sanctions on North Korea, the United States is bogged down in “slow-going” negotiations with China on a response to Pyongyang’s first ICBM launch, diplomats said Wednesday.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council two weeks ago that she would present “in the coming days” a draft sanctions resolution to confront what she described as a “clear and sharp military escalation.”
The United States promptly opened negotiations with China, North Korea’s main ally and fellow permanent council member, to agree on possible new measures such as cutting off oil supplies, banning North Korean guest workers or imposing new air and maritime restrictions.
Those talks are “still going on, ” a Security Council diplomat said. “There has not been any breakthrough despite a push by the United States in particular to do it more quickly than usual.”
“It’s fairly slow-going, ” said the diplomat, who asked not to be named. Four other UN diplomats confirmed that the negotiations were moving at a slow pace.
Asked whether there was progress in negotiations, China’s Ambassador Liu Jieyi told AFP “not yet” and said he did not expect agreement on a draft resolution any time soon. “It’s a complicated issue, ” he added.
One complicating factor has been Russia’s contention that the July 4 launch was not an intercontinental ballistic missile, despite North Korea’s claim that it had achieved that milestone in its military program.
