The United States announced on Friday May 27 new financial sanctions following the latest North Korean missile launches, targeting in particular two Russian banks accused of supporting North Korea's weapons of mass destruction program.
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These measures, which come after Russia and China vetoed an American resolution at the UN Security Council to strengthen international sanctions against Pyongyang, target the Far Eastern Bank and Bank Sputnik, two Russian financial institutions, as well as an affiliate of North Korean airline Air Koryo, according to a US Treasury statement.
Their possible assets in the United States are frozen and their access to the American market is barred.
The Treasury recalls that North Korea launched three ballistic missiles, including an intercontinental, on May 24, just after US President Joe Biden's visit to Asia, bringing to 23 ballistic missile tests since the beginning of the year "
in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions
".
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"
The United States will continue to implement and enforce sanctions while urging North Korea to return to diplomacy and abandon its development of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles
," the undersecretary said. to Treasury Brian Nelson in this release.