Russia's oil shipments to North Korea breach UN sanctions, expose rising authoritarian ties
Russia's oil shipments to North Korea breach UN sanctions, expose rising authoritarian ties
© East News, ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO
Russia has begun supplying oil directly to North Korea, which indicates a breach of UN sanctions aimed at stopping Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions and further cements ties between the two authoritarian regimes - the British newspaper "Financial Times" reported on Tuesday.
Satellite images, which were provided to the newspaper by the London-based think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), show that at least five North Korean tankers set out this month, starting from 6 March, for oil products to the port of Vostochny on the Russian Far East.
As "FT" emphasizes, these are the first documented, direct maritime oil deliveries from Russia, since in 2017 the UN Security Council, with Moscow's approval, set a strict limit on supplying this raw material in response to North Korea's nuclear tests.
These oil deliveries represent an overt attack on the sanctions regime, which is now on the verge of collapse - said Hugh Griffiths, former coordinator of the UN panel that monitors sanctions against North Korea.
The ships, which fly under the North Korean flag and are classified as tankers, entered the same berth in the port of Vostochny, which is operated by a Russian oil company, where, as the pictures show, loading was carried out. Satellite images confirmed that two ships then left the port of Vostochny for the North Korean port of Chongjin, where apparently unloading was carried out - describes "FT".
Kim's large fleet
- The ships we saw at Russian terminals belong to the largest in North Korea's fleet, and these ships constantly enter and leave the port. Several of these vessels are also designated by the UN, meaning they should not even have permission to enter foreign ports, let alone oil deliveries - said RUSI expert Joseph Byrne.
As "FT" recalls, in August last year, North Korea began delivering thousands of ammunition containers to Russia, which, according to military experts, significantly contributed to the intensification of Russian military actions in Ukraine. According to RUSI, the port of Vostochny was also used by Russian ships involved in the alleged arms trade between the countries.
Weapons for crude oil
What we are observing now, clearly is a barter agreement of the type weapons for crude oil, being a blatant violation of the sanctions that Vladimir Putin personally signed, and illustrates Russia's path in recent years from an international troublemaker to a rogue state - said Griffiths.
"FT" adds that all five North Korean ships arrived at the port of Vostochny with their transponders turned off. One of them, Paek Yang San 1, was identified by the UN in 2018 as involved in illegal transfers of crude oil between ships, aimed at circumventing the import limit.
In accordance with it, oil and oil products shipments to North Korea are limited to about 534,000 litres (500,000 barrels) annually and can only be considered in compliance with the sanctions regime when reported to the UN sanctions committee.
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