Vladimir Putin: North Korea sanctions are 'useless' and 'ineffective'

New sanctions against North Korea would be
"useless" and "ineffective", Vladimir Putin has said.
The Russian President said imposing tougher
sanctions on the regime of Kim Jong Un over its
nuclear missile programme would not change the
leadership in Pyongyang, but could lead to large-
scale human suffering.
Speaking after a BRICS summit in China, Mr Putin,
while condemning North Korea's actions as
"provocative", also warned against further ramping up
military hysteria, saying it could lead to "global
catastrophe".
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His comments followed a terse UN Security Council
meeting on Monday at which the US warned the
approach of imposing "incremental" sanctions against
the secretive nation had not worked.
A photo said to be Kim Jong Un inspecting North
Korea's latest nuclear test device
America's ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said
the US will come up with a new UN sanctions
resolution and aims to put it to a vote next Monday.
Members of the Japanese parliament and Germany's
Chancellor Angela Merkel have also demanded
tougher UN sanctions on North Korea.
North Korea's ambassador to the UN in Geneva said
his country's "recent self-defence measures" were
"gift packages" for the US and more would follow "as
long as" the Trump administration "relies on reckless
provocations and futile attempts to put pressure on
the DPRK".
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Mr Putin's comments came after North Korea was
seen moving what appeared to be an intercontinental
ballistic missile towards its west coast, a report said.
Analysts say it is most likely North Korea will carry
out its next 'provocative' act on or around 9
September when the country celebrates its founding
day.
On Tuesday, the South Korean navy held live-fire
drills in the Sea of Japan.
These involved the 2,500-ton frigate Gangwon, a
1,000-ton patrol ship and 400-ton guided missile
vessels in a show of force that aimed to deter the
North.
South Korea has also been in discussions with the US
about deploying aircraft carriers and bombers to the
Korean Peninsula.
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It was agreed on Monday that the country could
scrap a warhead weight limit on its missiles, meaning
it could hit back at Pyongyang with greater force.
North Korea alarmed the region with its most
powerful nuclear test to date on Sunday , detonating
what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb that could be
mounted on a long-range missile.
The US responded by saying that North Korea leader
Kim Jong Un was "begging for war" .
Ms Haley said her country did not want a conflict
with the Pyongyang regime but its patience was "not
unlimited".
Speaking at the Security Council meeting, Ms Haley
said "enough is enough", warning the organisation
that its approach of imposing "incremental" sanctions
against North Korea had not worked.
Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said that in
the event that sanctions on North Korea were
ramped up, his country would be relatively unaffected
as Russia "only supply oil products there (and) the
volumes are negligible, close to zero"

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