U.S. accuses Russia, China of abandoning U.N. responsibility over North Korea

The United States accused Russia and China on Friday of providing “blanket protection” to North Korea from further U.N. Security Council action and said the pair had “bent over backwards” to justify Pyongyang’s ballistic missile launches.
The United States, Britain, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway requested the Security Council meet on Friday after North Korea, formally known as the DPRK, fired multiple missiles, including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile.
“You don’t get to abandon Security Council responsibilities because the DPRK might sell you weapons to fuel your war of aggression in Ukraine, or because you think they make a good regional buffer to the United States,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the council,
referring to Russia and China.
Russia and China are unlikely to agree to any council action over North Korea’s latest missile launches, diplomats said.
Representatives of both China and Russia accused the United States of inflaming tensions with large-scale joint military exercises with South Korea.