US, Russia Strike Different Note on NK Fuel Aid
By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
The United States and Russia are disagreeing over whether North Korea should continue to get international fuel oil aid, it was reported Monday.
The U.S. State Department said that the parties involved in the six-party talks had agreed fuel oil would no longer be shipped until progress on denuclearization was made. One exception, according to a U.S. government spokesman, is a Russian shipment already underway.
But the U.S. State Department's talk about a fuel embargo was apparently news to the Russian envoy. A Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and chief North Korea negotiator Alexei Borodavkin as saying that Russia will go ahead with a third shipment of 50,000 metric tons of fuel oil this month in accordance with previous six-party agreements.
The latest round of talks ended in Beijing last week without reaching a consensus on how to verify Pyongyang's denuclearization activities.
Commenting on the supposed embargo on fuel shipments to North Korea, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said during the briefing that ``this is an action-for-action process.''
He said, ``And certainly, the United States as well ― and I think this is the understanding of other parties ― that future fuel shipments aren't going to move forward absent a verification regime. So that's very clear from the United States' point of view,'' according to a transcript of the press briefing on the U.S. State Department's Web site.
When asked by a reporter to clarify his statement, the spokesman reiterated, ``Fuel shipments, yeah, will not go forward absent a verification regime.''
He said, ``There's one in train (of oil shipment) with the Russians, but I think there is an understanding among the parties, I guess the five parties ― the exception being North Korea ― that fuel oil shipments will not go forward absent progress.''
When asked if Russians had agreed that they're not going to send future shipments, the spokesman said that ``one is, I believe, already in train. I think it's very difficult to turn off...But again, this is action-for-action. The North Koreans have not come through and signed onto the verification protocol, which all other parties have agreed.''
He said that in the meantime, the U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill ``will continue his consultations with his South Korean counterparts, with Japanese, Russian and Chinese counterparts as well. So that possibility exists that the process can move forward, but it's not going to move forward if the North Koreans don't agree to this verification protocol. We'll see. The ball is in their (North Koreans') court," the spokesman added.
The Russian news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister as saying that ``the statement by the U.S. State Department made following the six-party talks in Beijing surprised us.''
The Russian envoy also reportedly said continued oil fuel aid to North Korea would spur Pyongyang to complete denuclearization.