Spokesman accuses Russia and China of ‘parroting’ false claim to block criticism of DPRK at UN Security Council
Accusations by North Korea, Russia and China that U.S.-led military exercises provoked Pyongyang into launching ballistic missiles in response are “baloney,” a State Department spokesperson said Monday.
“I think you saw last week when there was a U.N. Security Council (UNSC) hearing on this — you saw the PRC and Russia and other countries parrot this false claim that U.S. provocations were the origination of these ballistic missile launches,” spokesman Vedant Patel said at a press briefing. “That’s baloney and absolutely not the case.”
Russia and China blocked criticism of North Korea at a UNSC meeting earlier this month after the DPRK launched a ballistic missile over Japan.
Both countries claimed recent trilateral military drills by the U.S., South Korea and Japan provoked North Korea into acting.
“The recent ballistic missile launches, the other kinds of aggravation and provocation that we’re seeing are condemnable,” Patel said. “These specific ballistic missile launches are in clear violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, and beyond the violation of resolutions, these kinds of activities pose a very serious threat to the region and to the world more broadly.”
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