China, Russia press UN to ease North Korea sanctions

China on Tuesday urged the UN Security Council to unanimously back its joint proposal with Russia to ease sanctions on North Korea, warning that dialogue to resolve nuclear tensions must not regress. The nuclear-armed North has issued increasingly strident declarations in recent weeks, even promising an ominous "Christmas gift" if Washington does not come up with some concessions.

For his part, US President Donald Trump said Monday that he would be "disappointed" if North Korea had "something in the works," warning that if it did, "we'll take care of it."

"We're watching it very closely," Trump said at the White House. Negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have been largely stalled since the collapse of a February summit in Hanoi between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The North is under heavy US and United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program, but it has been frustrated at the lack of relief after it declared a moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests.

"It is an important and sensitive period for the peninsula, and the urgency of a political solution has further increased," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing in Beijing. The international community should "prevent the peninsula from falling back into tense confrontation, and avoid a serious reversal of the situation," Geng added.

Russia and China introduced a draft joint resolution at the United Nations on Monday seeking to lift some of the punitive measures that have been enforced on Pyongyang over its nuclear activities.

"We hope that the Security Council will unanimously support the political settlement of the Peninsula issue" and encourage Washington and Pyongyang to "respect each other's concerns," Geng said.

He said "contact should be restored as soon as possible to break the deadlock and to prevent the dialogue process from derailing or even regressing."

While Beijing is Pyongyang's most important diplomatic ally and key economic lifeline, it has backed sanctions against its neighbour in the wake of its nuclear activities.

The draft text, obtained by AFP, said the Council "shall adjust the sanction measures towards the DPRK as may be needed in light of the DPRK's compliance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions."

It also underlined the necessity of having "the most favorable approach towards requests for exemptions from existing UN sanctions against the DPRK for humanitarian and livelihood purposes."