US suspected Russian ships in violation of oil bans in North Korea

News24xx.com - The United States entered the Russian ships “Tantal” and “Vityaz” into the list of ships that violated the sanctions regime against North Korea. They allegedly participated in transshipment of oil and oil products to or from tankers of the DPRK on the high seas. This is stated in a joint statement by the US Treasury, Coast Guard and State Department.

The list includes 18 vessels under the flags of Togo, Sierra-Leone, Panama, South Korea, Singapore, as well as unidentified. Evidence that they shipped fuel to the DPRK or took it on board is not given.

The statement notes that this list is not a sanction, but some ships may belong to people or companies in respect of which restrictive measures have already been introduced.

In September 2017, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution according to which the member countries of the organization, including Russia, are prohibited from exporting oil and oil products to North Korea. This decision was made because of the North Korean nuclear missile program.