WASHINGTON – The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on a Russian bank it said had facilitated a transaction with a person blacklisted by Washington for involvement with North Korea‘s nuclear weapons program.

The move comes as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to press Southeast Asian countries during meetings in Singapore on Saturday to maintain sanctions against Pyongyang, which is in talks with the United States about dismantling its nuclear program.

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The U.S. Treasury Department said Moscow-based Agrosoyuz Commercial Bank had conducted “a significant transaction” for Han Jang Su, the Moscow-based chief representative of Foreign Trade Bank, North Korea’s primary foreign exchange bank.

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“The United States will continue to enforce UN and U.S. sanctions and shut down illicit revenue streams to North Korea,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The Treasury also added Ri Jong Won, the Moscow-based deputy representative of FTB, and said both of the sanctioned FTB representatives should be expelled from Russia under United Nations resolutions meant to pressure Pyongyang over its nuclear program.

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It also designated what it said were two FTB front companies, China-based Dandong Zhongsheng Industry & Trade Co Ltd and Korea Ungum Corporation, which is based in North Korea.

The United States has kept up its pressure campaign on North Korea even as U.S. President Donald Trump has pursued talks with the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, to denuclearize. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on a Russian bank it said had facilitated a transaction with a person blacklisted by Washington for involvement with North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

The move comes as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to press Southeast Asian countries during meetings in Singapore on Saturday to maintain sanctions against Pyongyang, which is in talks with the United States about dismantling its nuclear program.

The U.S. Treasury Department said Moscow-based Agrosoyuz Commercial Bank had conducted “a significant transaction” for Han Jang Su, the Moscow-based chief representative of Foreign Trade Bank, North Korea’s primary foreign exchange bank.

“The United States will continue to enforce UN and U.S. sanctions and shut down illicit revenue streams to North Korea,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The Treasury also added Ri Jong Won, the Moscow-based deputy representative of FTB, and said both of the sanctioned FTB representatives should be expelled from Russia under United Nations resolutions meant to pressure Pyongyang over its nuclear program.

It also designated what it said were two FTB front companies, China-based Dandong Zhongsheng Industry & Trade Co Ltd and Korea Ungum Corporation, which is based in North Korea.

The United States has kept up its pressure campaign on North Korea even as U.S. President Donald Trump has pursued talks with the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, to denuclearize. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions on two Russian shipping companies and six vessels it said were involved in the transfer of refined petroleum products to North Korean vessels in violation of United Nations restrictions.

The Russian flag flies over the Embassy of Russia in Washington, U.S., August 6, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the sanctions as well as other U.S. steps over alleged hacking, groundless, and promised a response.

The U.S. Treasury identified the shipping firms as Vladivostok-based shipping companies Primorye Maritime Logistics Co Ltd (Primorye) and Gudzon Shipping Co LLC (Gudzon). It also named six Russian-flagged vessels: Bella, Bogatyr, Neptun, Partizan, Patriot and Sevastopol.

“Ship-to-ship transfers with North Korea-flagged vessels from Russia or elsewhere of any goods being supplied, sold, or transferred to or from (North Korea) are prohibited under the U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea and are sanctionable under U.S. law,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

“Consequences for violating these sanctions will remain in place until we have achieved the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea,” Mnuchin added.

The United States has been pressuring North Korea via sanctions to give up its nuclear weapons program.

The Treasury statement said Russian ship Patriot conducted two ship-to-ship transfers of oil in early 2018 - 1,500 tons to the North Korea-flagged Chong Rim 2 and 2,000 tons to the North Korea-flagged Chon Ma San.

It said the buyer was the Taesong Bank, a North Korean entity subordinate to the Workers’ Party of Korea Office 39, “which engages in illicit economic activities for North Korean leadership.”

Taesong Bank has already been slapped with both U.N. and U.S. sanctions.

In a statement published on the Russian Foreign Ministry website, Ryabkov said the latest sanctions were introduced under a “false pretense.”

Tuesday’s announcement came just days after Washington imposed sanctions on a Russian port service agency as well as Chinese companies for aiding North Korean ships and selling alcohol and tobacco to Pyongyang in breach of U.S. sanctions.

After last week’s announcement, Russia said the United States had acted without evidence on the basis of groundless accusations and said it was working on retaliatory measures. </s> The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on a Russian bank it said had facilitated a transaction with a person blacklisted by Washington for involvement with North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

The move comes as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo presses Southeast Asian countries during meetings in Singapore to maintain sanctions to pressure Pyongyang, which is in talks with the United States about dismantling its nuclear program.

Sanctions by the United States and the United Nations Security Council, which include a ban on exports of coal, iron, lead, textiles and seafood from North Korea, and caps on imports of oil and refined petroleum products, are aimed at choking off funding for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The U.S. Treasury Department said Moscow-based Agrosoyuz Commercial Bank had conducted "a significant transaction" for Han Jang Su, the Moscow-based chief representative of Foreign Trade Bank (FTB), North Korea's primary foreign exchange bank.

"The United States will continue to enforce UN and U.S. sanctions and shut down illicit revenue streams to North Korea," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The Treasury also added Ri Jong Won, the Moscow-based deputy representative of FTB, and said both Ri and Han should be expelled from Russia under U.N. resolutions meant to pressure Pyongyang over its nuclear program.

It also designated what it said were two FTB front companies, China-based Dandong Zhongsheng Industry & Trade Co Ltd and Korea Ungum Corporation, which is based in North Korea.

The United States has kept up its pressure campaign on North Korea even as U.S. President Donald Trump has pursued talks with the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, to denuclearize.

Questions have arisen over Pyongyang's commitment to give up its nuclear program after U.S. spy satellite material detected renewed activity at the factory that produced North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States.

In a letter to Trump on Friday, Republican senators Cory Gardner, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and Dan Sullivan urged the administration to tighten sanctions.

"Mr President, we believe that the time to ramp up maximum pressure against North Korea is now, if we are to peacefully achieve the goal of the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in the near future," the senators wrote.

Russia on Friday denied a Wall Street Journal report that it was allowing thousands of new North Korean laborers into the country and granting them work permits in a potential breach of U.N. sanctions. </s> The U.S. is sanctioning two Russian shipping companies suspected of transferring petroleum products to North Korean vessels in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The Treasury Department said that earlier this year, one vessel linked to the Russian companies transferred 3,500 tons of oil to ships flying the North Korea flag.

The Treasury said the buyer was North Korea’s Taesong Bank. The bank is linked to the Workers’ Party of Korea Office 39, which engages in illicit economic activities for North Korean leaders.

The sanctions seek to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear program. They block the two Russian shipping companies’ assets in the U.S. and ban Americans from dealing with them.

Tuesday’s action targeted Primorye Maritime Logistics Co. and Gudzon Shipping Co., based in the city of Vladivostok, and six of their vessels. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions on two Russian shipping companies and six vessels it said were involved in the transfer of refined petroleum products to North Korean vessels in violation of U.N. restrictions.

The U.S. Treasury identified the firms as Vladivostok-based shipping companies Primorye Maritime Logistics Co Ltd (Primorye) and Gudzon Shipping Co LLC (Gudzon).

It also named six Russian-flagged vessels: Bella, Bogatyr, Neptun, Partizan, Patriot and Sevastopol.

“Ship-to-ship transfers with North Korea-flagged vessels from Russia or elsewhere of any goods being supplied, sold, or transferred to or from (North Korea) are prohibited under the U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea and are sanctionable under U.S. law,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

“Consequences for violating these sanctions will remain in place until we have achieved the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.”

The United States has been pressuring North Korea via sanctions to give up its nuclear weapons program.

Tuesday’s announcement came just days after Washington imposed sanctions on a Russian port service agency and Chinese companies for aiding North Korean ships and selling alcohol and tobacco to Pyongyang in breach of U.S. sanctions.

After last week’s announcement, Russia said the United States had acted without evidence on the basis of groundless accusations when imposing sanctions on the Russian company. It said it was working on retaliatory measures. </s> WASHINGTON - The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed sanctions on 16 mainly Chinese and Russian companies and people for assisting North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and helping the North make money to support those programs.

The penalties are intended to complement new U.N. Security Council sanctions and further isolate North Korea for its nuclear and missile tests amid heightened tensions that have led to threats from both sides, the Treasury Department said in a statement. The 16 affected entities either do business with previously sanctioned companies and people, work with the North Korean energy sector, help it place workers abroad or facilitate its evasion of international financial curbs.

The measures block any assets they may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from transactions with them.

"It is unacceptable for individuals and companies in China, Russia, and elsewhere to enable North Korea to generate income used to develop weapons of mass destruction and destabilize the region," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. "We are taking actions consistent with U.N. sanctions to show that there are consequences for defying sanctions and providing support to North Korea, and to deter this activity in the future."

Among those sanctioned are six Chinese companies, including three coal companies; two Singapore-based companies that sell oil to North Korea and three Russians that work with them; a Russian company that deals in North Korean metals and its Russian director; a construction company based in Namibia; a second Namibia-based company, and its North Korean director, that supplies North Korean workers to build statues overseas to generate income for the North.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on two Russian individuals, three companies and six Russian-flagged ships over alleged business ties with North Korea - in violation of international sanctions.according to a release published on the Treasury website on Tuesday.The individuals added to the sanctions list are Anton Nagibin, who was included over his ties to the Saint-Petersburg-based design and manufacture company DiveTechnoService, and Marina Tsareva over her connection to the same firm as well as to the corporation Vela-Marine.The updated list also includes Russian cargo ship operator Gudzon Shipping, Primorye Maritime Logistics, Vela-Marine and a Slovakian firm, Lacno.The new sanctions target six Russian-flagged ships, including Bella, Bogatyr, Neptun, Patriot, Partizan, and Sevastopol over their alleged ties to the sanctioned shipping firm Gudzon.Earlier this month, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Moscow is working on retaliatory measures against the broadening sanctions list of the US.On August 15, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against Russia-based Profinet and its director general. According to the US administration, the company facilitated illicit shipments and provided revenue streams to North Korea vessels. At the beginning of the month, Washington also sanctioned Russia's Agrosoyuz Commercial Bank over violations of UN bans pertaining to Pyongyang. </s> The Treasury Department slapped sanctions on a Russian bank on Friday, accusing it of processing transactions for North Korea in violation of United Nations sanctions.

Agrosoyuz Commercial Bank knowingly facilitated "a significant transaction" on behalf of a person affiliated with North Korea's weapons of mass destruction, the agency said in a statement.

The individual was named as Han Jang Su, the Moscow-based chief representative of North Korea's primary foreign exchange bank, the Foreign Trade Bank.

The statement also detailed a long relationship between the Russian bank and North Korea. The bank held, processed and transferred millions of dollars for North Korea, despite sanctions which are meant to isolate it economically.

Agrosoyuz also knowingly opened bank accounts for North Korean front companies, according to the Treasury Department. By 2018, the bank had allowed one front company to invest nearly $2.5 million in Russian rubles in an account.

The government agency also singled out Ri Jong Won, the deputy representative of FTB in Moscow, and said that both men should be expelled from Russia under a U.N. resolution.

"The United States will continue to enforce UN and U.S. sanctions and shut down illicit revenue streams to North Korea," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. "Our sanctions will remain in place until we have achieved the final, fully-verified denuclearization of North Korea."

The sanctions come as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urges Southeast Asian countries to continue pressuring Pyongyang until North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons.

But some analysts have voiced concern that the country may not have real intentions to disarm. "Commercial satellite imagery from June 21 indicates that improvements to the infrastructure at North Korea's Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center are continuing at a rapid pace," monitoring site 38 North said in June, days after President Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Intelligence agencies detected activity at a large factory on the outskirts of the capital where North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of striking the United States, were produced. "The weapons factories — and there are hundreds of facilities in North Korea, we have to remember — are just continuing to do work as normal," Joby Warrick of The Washington Post told NPR.

U.S. officials also told NBC that North Korea increased its fuel for nuclear weapons at several secret sites.

It's unclear when Russia started supporting North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and to what extent. A study released in 2017 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies said North Korea's success with intercontinental ballistic missiles was made possible by black market purchases. Researcher Michael Elleman told NPR that it seemed that "criminal gangs were able to access something and export it from either Ukraine or Russia."

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Russia is letting thousands of North Korean laborers into the country and giving them new permits to work.

Congress is urging the Trump administration to tighten sanctions on Russia because of its inference in U.S. elections, activity in Syria and annexation of Crimea.

On Thursday, Sen. Cory Gardner said he was putting forth a bipartisan sanctions package with Sens. Lindsey Graham, Ben Cardin, John McCain, Jeanne Shaheen and Bob Menendez. "It is one of the most hard-hitting pieces of legislation ever introduced against the Russian Federation," Gardner said.

He added that the measure "includes my language requiring the State Department to determine whether Russia merits the designation of a State Sponsor of Terror, joining Kremlin allies Iran and Syria."

The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on a China-based trading company, Dandong Zhongsheng Industry & Trade Co. Ltd., and Korea Ungum Corporation.
The United States imposes sanctions on a Russian bank that facilitated a transaction for a North Korean on an American blacklist.