The US has imposed sanctions against Russia and North Korea for illegal financial schemes

On Thursday, September 19, the United States imposed sanctions on a network of five groups and one individual for making payments between Russia and North Korea to support Pyongyang’s war against Ukraine and weapons programs, the US Treasury Department said.

These measures demonstrate the commitment of the United States to eliminate networks “that contribute to the financing of the DPRK’s illegal programs for the creation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles and support Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine,” the report says.

“Russia is becoming increasingly dependent on North Korea as it faces mounting battlefield losses and growing international isolation,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

The new sanctions expose how Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government is using illegal financial schemes to help North Korea gain access to the international banking system in violation of UN Security Council sanctions, the Treasury Department said.

The sanctions target the financial schemes of North Korea’s state-owned Foreign Trade Bank (FTB) and Korea’s Kwangson Banking Corporation.

According to one scheme orchestrated by Russia’s Central Bank, MRB Bank, located in the South Ossetia region of Georgia, acted at the behest of a Russian bank to establish secret banking relationships with North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank, the finance ministry said.

Earlier, the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, met with the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu, and discussed the deepening of the strategic dialogue between the two countries.

President Vladimir Putin visited the capital of North Korea in June, where he signed an agreement on mutual defense with Kim Jong Un. At a meeting with Shoigu, who headed the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for 12 years until May 2024, Kim “confirmed that his government will continue to expand cooperation” with Russia based on this agreement.

Western powers accuse North Korea of ​​selling ammunition to Russia, which has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine for more than two and a half years, in violation of sanctions.