UN – The U.S. will submit to the UN Security Council on Thursday, a draft resolution that would expand sanctions against North Korea over its latest nuclear test, a spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the UN said.
“Ambassador Samantha Power intends to submit for consideration by the Security Council a draft sanctions resolution in response to (North Korea’s) recent nuclear test and subsequent proscribed ballistic missile launch.
“We look forward to working with the council on a strong and comprehensive response to the DPRK’s (North Korea’s) latest series of tests aimed at advancing their nuclear weapons programme,”Spokesman Kurtis Cooper said in a statement.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
On Wednesday, council diplomats said that the U.S. and China had agreed on a draft resolution and hoped to put it to a vote in the 15-nation council in the coming days.
The two veto powers had been negotiating on the text for the past seven weeks, following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6.
“It’s a substantive, long, full draft,” a senior council diplomat said.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that important progress had been made on the resolution and that “hopefully consensus can be reached soon.
“We hope and believe that this new resolution can help effectively constrain North Korea from further developing its nuclear missile programme,” Hua told a regular press briefing on Thursday at the UN. (Reuters/NAN)
