In a draft resolution to the United Nations (UN) Security Council, China and Russia are urging the removal of sanctions on North Korea, Reuters reported on 2 November 2021.
Both allies of Pyongyang are trying to lift the ban on export of statues, seafood, and textiles.
They are also trying to remove a cap on the import of refined petroleum.
The official objective of such a move is stated to have "the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population" in North Korea, which has been a victim of the UN sanctions since 2006 because of the nuclear and ballistic missile programmes that it maintains.
This is not the first time Moscow and Beijing have asked for bans on North Korea to be lifted.
In 2019, both had proposed the revocation of a ban on North Koreans working abroad and the removal of sanctions from inter-Korean rail and road cooperation projects.
Several UN diplomats anonymously remarked that the proposal has little chance of success.
While the UN Security Council will probably acknowledge the food insecurity prevailing in North Korea due to woeful economic policies, and while it "has repeatedly affirmed that it is prepared to modify, suspend, or lift the measures as may be needed" to help the country, the latter "has taken no steps to comply with the Security Council's demands regarding its prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs," Reuters added.
(With inputs from Reuters.)
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