WASHINGTON: The US State Department has imposed sanctions on three Russian entities and one individual for transferring North Korea’s ballistic missiles to Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.
Blinken in a statement said that the US will not hesitate to take more further actions.
He added North Korea’s transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, and undermines the international nonproliferation regime.
The development comes two days after the United States and its allies in a joint statement denounced arms transfers between North Korea and Russia, and Moscow’s procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles and their use against Ukraine on December 30 and January 2.
Moscow, Pyongyang reject US allegations
However, both Moscow and Pyongyang have strongly rejected the US allegations regarding arms deal.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met President Vladimir Putin in Russia’s Far East region in September last year and senior Russian officials have made many visits to Pyongyang.
Last week the White House alleged that Russia had used short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) purchased from North Korea to conduct multiple strikes against Ukraine. A senior Ukrainian official later verified the assertion.
Russia struck Kharkiv city of Ukraine with several missiles last week, killing two people and wounding over 60 in one of its biggest missile and drone attack since the beginning of the large-scale war in February 2022.
North Korea has been under a United Nations arms restriction since it first tested a nuclear bomb in 2006. UN Security Council resolution, ban countries from trading weapons or other military equipment with North Korea.
