RUSSIA SAYS TOO EARLY TO HAVE VOTE ON SANCTIONS

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was too early to talk about a vote at the UN Security Council on new North Korea sanctions, insisting any pressure should be balanced against restarting talks.
“Work is currently going on over a new resolution in the Security Council and it is still early to make predictions about its final form,” Mr Lavrov said at a news conference with French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.
“Along with pressure on the North Korean regime to induce it to abandon provocations in the implementation of its nuclear and missile programmes, it is necessary to emphasize and increase the priority of efforts to resume the political process,” Mr Lavrov said.
The United States has presented a draft UN resolution calling for an oil embargo on North Korea, an assets freeze on leader Kim Jong-Un, a ban on textiles and an end to payments of North Korean guest workers.