ST. PETERSBURG. June 26 (Interfax) - The UN Security Council's sanctions on North Korea have become an anachronism, and they worsen the life of people in this country, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"The Security Council's measures on North Korea have become an absolute anachronism today, [they are] by no means harmless, bearing in mind their negative consequences for the economy and the population of this country," Zakharova said at a briefing in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.
"Russia traditionally sees the restrictions introduced by the UN Security Council as one of the auxiliary means that makes it possible to solve complex tasks in the sphere of peace and security, within the framework outlined by the global organization's charter," she said.
"Sanctions cannot and should not hang over whole countries and nations for decades like the Sword of Damocles just because of the idea of using them to pressure disobedient geopolitical opponents, to secure one's interests by pressure. And they certainly should not lead to a total deterioration of, and it can even be said of a collapse of human rights, which the West cares so much about, people's living standards," Zakharova said.
"We strongly oppose such abuse of UN Security Council authority, and Russia, as a responsible permanent member of the Security Council, values its international reputation," she said.
Zakharova also criticized the statements made by Seoul after the Russian president's visit to North Korea, which said this violated South Korea's security and that it may revise its stance on the supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine. "Such language of blackmail and threats towards Russia is categorically unacceptable," she said.
Zakharova recalled the Russian president's statement that the treaty signed in Pyongyang "is purely defensive in nature, and South Korea has nothing to worry about."
As to accusations of fanning the conflict in Ukraine made by the South Korean leadership, Zakharova said that "such attacks are simply unacceptable."
"In light of the plans to revise its stance on supplying lethal weapons to the Kiev regime stated by Seoul, we would like to caution the Republic of Korea against badly thought-out steps that could lead to irreversible consequences for Russian-South Korean relations," Zakharova said.
"Russia will not look on as South Korean weapons and military hardware are supplied to Ukrainian neo-Nazis for strikes on Russian territory and for killing civilians," she said.