Russia supplies oil directly to North Korea in exchange for weapons

Russia began providing direct oil supplies to North Korea, defying UN sanctions. In exchange for oil, Russia receives weapons.

Source: Financial Times

Details: According to satellite images provided by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a UK think tank, at least five North Korean tankers visited the Vostochny Port in Russia's Far East this month to obtain petroleum products.

The shipments, which began on 7 March, are the first documented direct maritime shipments from Russia since the United Nations Security Council, with Moscow's approval, imposed strict limits on oil shipments in response to Pyongyang's nuclear tests in 2017.

Quote: "These oil deliveries constitute a full-frontal assault against the sanctions regime, which is now on the brink of collapse," said Hugh Griffiths, former co-chair of the UN sanctions monitoring group on North Korea.

Ships flying the North Korean flag and classified as petroleum product tankers visited the same berth owned by a Russian oil company in the Vostochny Port, where they appeared to be loading. Satellite images confirmed that two of these vessels departed from the Vostochny Port for the North Korean port of Chongjin, where they most likely unloaded.

"The vessels we’ve seen at Russian terminals are some of the largest-capacity vessels in North Korea’s fleet, and the vessels are continually sailing in and out of the port," said RUSI researcher Joseph Byrne.

The shipments follow North Korea's shipment of thousands of ammunition containers to Russia since last August, which military experts say has had a significant impact on the course of Moscow's war in Ukraine. According to RUSI, the Vostochny Port also served as a hub for Russian ships allegedly involved in cross-border arms trade.

"What we can see now is a clear arms-for-oil bartering arrangement in open contravention of sanctions that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin signed off on personally," Griffiths said.

The apparent oil-for-arms trade comes at a time when Western diplomats are rushing to keep a UN panel that monitors North Korean sanctions in place, fearing that Russia will veto the body's mandate extension.

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