US to impose sanctions on Russian firms over North Korean missiles

By Necva Tastan

ISTANBUL (AA) – The US on Friday announced sanctions on three Russian companies and one person involved in the testing and transfer of North Korea's ballistic missiles.

The US will be "imposing sanctions on one individual and three entities complicit in the transfer to Russia and testing of DPRK (North Korea)-origin ballistic missiles by Russia since late November 2023," the US State Department said in a statement.

North Korea giving ballistic missiles to Russia has intensified the suffering of the Ukrainian people in the current war and undermined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the statement said.

The United States will “continue to disrupt and expose arms transfers” between the North Korea and Russia, it added.

The statement also said that the US is ready to take further steps if necessary.

At a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, the US and other nations said “heinous” Russian attacks on Ukraine between Dec. 30 and Jan. 6 had been carried out, in part, using ballistic missiles and ballistic missile launchers procured from North Korea.

Amid continuing US sanctions on Russia, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has said Russia's options for weapons and ammunition procurement narrowed, prompting Moscow to seek increased military cooperation with regional partners.

Kirby also claimed that North Korea recently obtained ballistic missiles and missile launchers from Russia, and Russian forces launched at least one of these North Korean missiles into Ukraine on Dec. 30.​​​​​​​