President Trump: Russia Is Helping North Korea Skirt Sanctions

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 17, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Reuters: Exclusive: Trump says Russia helping North Korea skirt sanctions; Pyongyang getting close on missile

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Russia is helping North Korea get supplies in violation of international sanctions and that Pyongyang is getting “closer every day” to being able to deliver a long-range missile to the United States.

“Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea,” Trump said during an Oval Office interview with Reuters. “What China is helping us with, Russia is denting. In other words, Russia is making up for some of what China is doing.”

China and Russia both signed onto the latest rounds of United Nations Security Council sanctions against North Korea imposed last year. There was no immediate comment from the Russian embassy in Washington on Trump’s remarks.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I do not know if Russia is breaking sanctions against North Korea, but there are a lot of North Koreans working on construction sites in Russia .... Russia's hidden world of North Korean labor(CNN). On a side note, this is interesting (behind WSJ paywall) .... Tillerson Refuses to Say if Trump, Kim Jong Un Have Spoken (WSJ).

Will North Korean-Bound Ships Be Intercepted By U.S. And Allied Naval Forces?

Prepare to be boarded. (Reuters/Paul Yeung)

Steve Mollman, Quartz: North Korea-bound ships could soon be routinely intercepted by the US and its allies

In December, North Korea warned that a naval blockade would be considered an “act of war.” This week, foreign ministers from the US and about 20 other countries will discuss the possibility of intercepting vessels headed to North Korea, as part of expanding efforts to pressure Pyongyang into abandoning its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

The meeting will take place in Vancouver on Jan. 16, with Canada and the US serving as co-hosts. Attendees will primarily be the nations that sent troops to the Korean war of 1950-53, among them South Korea, Japan, Australia, India, Britain, and France. Neither China nor Russia will attend, though they will be given a readout of the discussion.

Read more ....

WNU Editor:North Korea has already warned that such actions would be regarded as a declaration of war.