8 Countries Including North Korea, China, and Russia Urge UN to Demand Sanctions Relief for COVID-19 Response

Ant?nio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General. Source=Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Eight countries, including North Korea, China, and Russia, have urged the United Nations to demand the lifting of Western sanctions to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

TASS reported on the 26th (local time), citing the Twitter account of the Russian Ambassador to the UN, that eight countries?North Korea, China, Russia, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela?sent a joint letter to UN Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres requesting the easing of sanctions that hinder efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Although the eight countries did not specify the entities imposing the sanctions, it is presumed to be aimed at the United States and its allied countries.

In the letter, these countries stated, "In accordance with the UN's long-standing principled position of rejecting unilateral and coercive measures, we respectfully urge the UN to demand the immediate and complete lifting of illegal, coercive, and unilateral economic sanctions from the sanctioning parties."

They further explained, "This is to ensure a full, effective, and efficient response by all member states of the international community to the coronavirus and to reject the politicization of such a pandemic."

These countries emphasized that political calculations that hinder saving lives cannot be tolerated, stating, "We request the lifting of sanctions not to sow confusion but to promote international solidarity, cooperation, and prudent responses." They stressed that this request is made to participate in efforts at regional, national, and international levels without any discrimination to overcome the crisis facing the global community.

Earlier, on the 24th, Secretary-General Guterres also urged the leaders of the G20 (Group of Twenty) member countries in a letter to strengthen efforts to combat COVID-19, stating, "Sanctions should be lifted to allow countries under sanctions to access medical supplies and food necessary to respond to COVID-19."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.