The US Treasury Department has sanctioned three companies linked to a sanctions evasion network for North Korean arms sales to Russia. Recently, the leader of North Korea called on the population of the hermetic country
The sanctioned companies, Limited Liability Company Verus, Defense Engineering Limited Liability Partnership and Versor SRO (Versor), are all owned by Ashot Mkrtychev, a Slovakian who was already penalized in March by the United States for negotiating with Pyongyang to purchase arms for Russia.
As part of the consequences of the measures announced this Wednesday, US citizens and companies are prohibited from making transactions with the indicated companies. In addition, it is extended that any foreign financial institution that facilitates a transaction with these companies could also be sanctioned.
“As Russia continues to expend ammunition and lose equipment on the battlefield, it has been increasingly forced to turn to its few allies to sustain its unwarranted war in Ukraine,” the statement said.
Earlier this week, North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam accused the United States of putting the Korean peninsula on the brink of nuclear war, due to its economic and military closeness to the South Korean government. , and so far ruled out that negotiations can resolve the conflict at this time.
According to the defense minister, the problem now is not when a nuclear war will start on the Korean peninsula, but who will start it, how and when. Since tensions with the United States escalated, President Joe Biden’s administration has been very clear about how forceful his response can be if North Korea decides to use atomic weapons.
“Since the beginning of the year, the United States has moved large quantities of strategic nuclear weapons to South Korea, including a nuclear submarine, a strategic bomber and an atomic strike group aircraft carrier,” Kang said during the 11th Moscow International Security Conference. .
The head of the Korean Defense Ministry stated that under the current conditions, only force is the only way to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. “As long as the United States does not recognize the utter failure of its hostile policy towards the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and forever abandons its policy of military antagonism with our republic, the solution of any problem through dialogue or negotiation will not be possible.“, he claimed.
With information from EFE
