The U.N. Security Council has ordered an immediate halt of all petroleum deliveries through the end of the year, according to a report by Reuters Friday.
The council's 15 member states placed an annual limit of 500,000 barrel imports a year. The sanctions started in 2018 and were again renewed in 2020 in an effort to cut off fuel to North Korea and hamper its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
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A complaint was submitted to the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee by a reported 43 nations, including the U.S., the U.K and France. It alleged that 1.6 million barrels of refined petroleum had been imported within the first five months of this year, by 56 illegitimate tanker deliveries.
North Korea vessels continue to conduct illicit ship-to-ship deliveries at sea “on a regular basis as the DPRK’s [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] primary means of importing refined petroleum,” the complaint read.
The complaint did not outline which countries they are receiving the illegal shipments from but, according to the Security Council’s monthly report, the only official shipments they have received have been delivered by Russia and China.