N. Korea says Russia opposes U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang

SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korea claimed Friday that Russia has reaffirmed
its objection to U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent rocket launch.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivered the position to his North Korean
counterpart in their latest talks in Pyongyang on Thursday, a spokesman at the
North's foreign ministry was quoted as saying by its official Korean Central News
Agency.
"The two sides agreed that a satellite launch is the sovereign right of every
country," the unidentified spokesman said.
The Russian side reaffirmed that it is opposed to U.N. sanctions against North
Korea and listened to the North's position that the six-way nuclear talks are no
longer necessary, the spokesman added.
The brief report gave no other details, including what kind of U.N. sanctions the
Russian minister referred to.
The U.S. and Japan had initially pushed for a new U.N. Security Council
resolution to impose fresh sanctions on the North, considering its April 5 launch
as part of its advanced intercontinental ballistic missile test.
But China and Russia blocked the initiative, backing North Korea's claim that it
attempted to send a communication satellite into orbit. The North argued that it
was successful, while the U.S. military said all the three stages of the rocket
tumbled into the Pacific Ocean.
The regional powers reached a compromise on a U.N. Security Council presidential
statement calling for U.N. member states to impose sanctions under the existing
U.N. resolution adopted after the North's missile and nuclear tests in 2006.
lcd@yna.co.kr