The US accuses Russia and China of 'blatantly' shielding North Korea

The United States on Monday at the United Nations Security Council called out Russia and China for “blatantly protecting” and encouraging North Korea to further violate U.N. sanctions, while Pyongyang vowed to accelerate the build-up of its “nuclear power” .

“Russia and China have brazenly protected Pyongyang from any reprisal or even condemnation of its actions,” the deputy US ambassador to the UN said. UN Robert Wood.

“Protected from closer scrutiny of its sanctions-busting activities by Moscow and Beijing, Pyongyang has, unsurprisingly, been emboldened to continue advancing its unlawful ballistic missile, nuclear and weapons of mass destruction programs,” he said, using the acronym for used weapons of mass destruction.

The fifteen-member council met Pyongyang’s Thursday’s test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. said Wood Russia and China had prevented the council from issuing a statement of condemnation, a step that requires consensus.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. File photo: AFP

North Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Kim Song told the Security Council that Pyongyang would accelerate the build-up of its nuclear force to “counter any threat from hostile nuclear weapons states.”

“The United States’ nuclear threat against North Korea has already reached a critical point in terms of scale and danger,” Kim said. “Due to reckless movements of the United Statesthe potential situation is approaching the brink of war.” North Korea is the abbreviation for the country’s formal name: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.