CHINA and Russia have blocked tougher US-led sanctions on North Korea which would have placed further restrictions on the amount of oil Pyongyang could legally import. 

The pair vetoed the proposal put forward at the UN security council on Thursday to punish North Korea over its renewed ballistic missile launches. 

The US “should not place one-sided emphasis on the implementation of sanctions alone. It should also work to promote a political solution,” China’s ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun said.

Sanctions would cause an “escalation” and humanitarian consequences for North Korea, which is dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19, the diplomat said. 

Russian ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said that Washington is ignoring Pyongyang’s appeals to stop “hostile activity” describing sanctions as “a path to a dead end.”

“It seems that our American and other Western colleagues are suffering from the equivalent of writer’s block. They seem to have no response to crisis situations other than introducing new sanctions,” he said.

“We have stressed the ineffectiveness and the inhumanity of further strengthening the sanctions pressure on Pyongyang.”

The other 13 UN security council member states voted in favour of the resolution.

It is the first public spat among the veto-wielding members on the issue since the UN started placing sanctions on North Korea in 2006. 

US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield described the vote as a “disappointing day” for the council.

“The world faces a clear and present danger from the DPRK (North Korea),” she told the council, without a hint of irony over her country’s role in destabilising the globe. 

“Council restraint and silence has not eliminated or even reduced the threat. If anything, DPRK has been emboldened.”

Pyongyang insists that it has the right to develop its self-defence capabilities in the face of increased US aggression.