China and Russia veto new UN sanctions on North Korea

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China and Russia have vetoed a U.N. resolution sponsored by the United States that would have imposed tough new sanctions on North Korea for its spate of intercontinental ballistic missile launches that can be used to deliver nuclear weapons. The vote in the 15-member Security Council on Thursday was 13-2 and marked a first serious division among the five veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N.’s most powerful body on a North Korea sanctions resolution. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield appealed for unity before the vote, calling North Korea’s six ICBM tests this year “a threat to the entire international community.”