…As North Korea threatens to stall denuclearization in warning to US***

Russia and China on Thursday blocked a US request to add a Russian bank to a UN sanctions blacklist along with a North Korean official and two entities, diplomats said.

The United States last week asked a UN sanctions committee to slap an assets freeze on Agrosoyuz Commercial Bank for allegedly helping North Korea evade UN-imposed restrictions on financial transactions.

The request also targeted Ri Jong Won, the deputy representative of North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank and two North Korean front companies.

In a response to the council, Russia raised doubts about the allegations while China told the council that it objected to the proposed sanctions designations put forward by the United States.

“We would like to underline that designation requests submitted to the committee should be adequately substantiated by sufficient information,” said the Russian mission to the United Nations in a message to the council seen by AFP.

The request followed a US Treasury Department decision to impose unilateral sanctions on the Russian bank, the North Korean official and the two entities.

The two companies were named as the Dandong Zhongsheng Industry & Trade Company and the Korea Ungum Corporation.

Russia and China have called on the Security Council to consider easing sanctions to reward North Korea for opening up dialogue with the United States and halting missile tests.

But the United States has called for maintaining “maximum pressure” from sanctions until North Korea has fully dismantled its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Earlier Thursday, the North Korean foreign ministry issued an angry statement, denouncing the United States for responding to its overtures by “inciting international sanctions and pressure.”

The council last year adopted three rafts of sanctions targeting North Korea’s economy through export and import bans, as well as restrictions on banking.

It was the second time in three weeks that Russia and China have objected to a US request to tighten sanctions on North Korea.

On July 19, the two countries put a six-month hold on a US request to halt all deliveries of refined oil products to North Korea.

The United States had made the request to the sanctions committee after finding that North Korea had exceeded the cap on fuel imports though illegal ship-to-ship transfers at sea.

UN sanctions resolutions place a ceiling for North Korea of 500,000 barrels of refined oil products per year and four million barrels of crude.

A cut-off of oil and fuel would have to be enforced primarily by China, which supplies most of North Korea’s energy needs, but also by Russia, which delivers some oil to Pyongyang.

In the meantime, North Korea on Thursday threatened to stall the denuclearization of its missile program if the U.S. continues to abide by an “outdated acting script” amid Washington’s calls to enforce sanctions against the regime.

A statement from the nation’s Foreign Ministry said that following President Trump’s June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the North has worked to improve relations between the two countries and “make active contributions to peace, security, and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and over the world.”

POMPEO SAYS NORTH KOREA NOT LIVING UP TO NUCLEAR PLEDGE

The foreign ministry said that despite their efforts to work with the U.S. — by stopping their missile launches and nuclear tests — America continues to insist on “denuclearization first,” and continues to encourage international sanctions against the North.

U.S. officials, according to North Korea, “are making baseless allegations against us and making desperate attempts at intensifying the international sanctions,” against what they believe to be Trump’s intentions to better relations between the two countries.

“As long as the U.S. denies even the basic decorum for its dialogue partner and clings to the outdated acting script which the previous administrations have all tried and failed, one cannot expect any progress in the implementation of the DPRK-U.S. joint statement including the denuclearization,” the statement read.

The North noted that they returned remains of U.S. soldiers who fought in the Korean War to the U.S. last week.

The foreign ministry said actions taken by the U.S. equate to “throwing cold water” over their efforts, calling it an “indeed foolish act that amounts to waiting to see a boiled egg hatch out.”

POMPEO WARNS RUSSIA, CHINA ABOUT VIOLATING NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS

At Trump and Kim’s historic summit, the two signed a document stating that Pyongyang would work toward “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

But, following the meeting, U.S. intelligence officials said they believed North Korea was “deceiving” the U.S., saying the regime was bolstering production for nuclear weapons at “multiple secret sites” in recent months.

Guardian NG with additional report from Fox