Russia has criticized the resolution adopted at the 68th session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which concerns the DPRK.

IAEA conference and the Russian delegation’s protest

However the delegation of the Russian Federation issued an objection, whose main points can be summarized as follows:

“The Russian Federation has consistently expressed the opinion that dialogue with the DPRK should be based on specific and practical incentives to engage this country in negotiations, rather than on threats and escalatory rhetoric.”

“The ritual of listing endless claims against the DPRK is diplomatic manipulation. This practice is completely divorced from reality.”

The draft resolution is “imposed by interested countries,” whose aim is to “point the finger at the DPRK, blame Pyongyang, and present themselves as supporters of peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

It is hard to see them as supporters of peace though, especially in view of the increased military and political activity between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul following the signing of the Washington Declaration in April 2023. The activities of the US-South Korean nuclear advisory group, the Ulchi Freedom Field joint exercises, with a nuclear component, and the visits to South Korea by US nuclear weapons carriers “extremely negatively impact regional security and undermine the entire architecture of the UN Security Council resolutions aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the situation on the Korean Peninsula.”

Meanwhile, the DPRK has refrained from truly aggressive actions in the nuclear sphere and continues to adhere to the moratorium on nuclear tests announced on April 21, 2018, without receiving anything in return.

From the Russian point of view, “the United States and its allies are deliberately provoking Pyongyang to take abrupt and tough steps” and the fact that “Western countries are blocking the possibility of easing sanctions in response to Pyongyang’s restraint in the nuclear sphere” is a “violation of the relevant provisions of the UN Security Council resolutions.”

The statement ended on an uncompromising rather than a diplomatic note. “We regret that over all these years the approach of the co-authors of the draft resolution has not changed, while the geopolitical situation in........

© New Eastern Outlook