AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
Rostock, Germany: The White House on Wednesday gave a cool reception to a compromise resolution by Russia and China on North Korea, reiterating US support for a Japanese measure that calls for sanctions.
Asked for Washington's position on the new resolution, national security spokesman Frederick Jones replied: “We have previously expressed support for the Japanese resolution. We remain supportive of the Japanese resolution.”
Jones's comments came as US President George W. Bush traveled to Germany for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel before going on to the Russian city of Saint Petersburg for the annual meeting of G8 wealthy democracies plus Russia.
China and Russia introduced a draft UN Security Council resolution Wednesday to counter demands from other member states for mandatory weapons-related sanctions against North Korea.
The new text was swiftly criticised for having “very serious gaps” by Japan which — backed by Britain, France and the United States — had introduced its own draft resolution last week requiring punitive action against Pyongyang for its recent missile tests.
Unlike the Japanese draft, the joint Chinese-Russian text does not make the proposed sanctions mandatory and does not invoke Chapter Seven of the UN charter, which can authorize sanctions or even military action.
It also does not characterize the missile tests as a “threat to international peace and security.”
