Russia denies violating UN ban on DPRK coal export

MOSCOW, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Russia did not re-export coal from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to third countries in violation of sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council, the Kremlin said Friday.

"Russia is a responsible member of the international community and is committed to international rules and sanctions," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, urging them not to trust unnamed sources in intelligence services.

A Reuters report citing sources in Western intelligence services had said that Russia delivered coal from the DPRK to South Korea and Japan via Russian ports of Nakhodka and Kholmsk in the Far East region in violation of a UN Security Council ban.

On Aug. 5, 2017, the UN Security Council banned the DPRK from exporting coal in a new sanction over its two intercontinental ballistic missiles tests in July. Enditem