The United States imposed sanctions on three entities it accused of being tied to arms deals between North Korea and Russia, a day after the two countries announced intention to increase in defense cooperation.
The US Department of the Treasury said in a statement that the Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) on Wednesday imposed sanctions on three entities involved in illicit arms deals between North Korea and Russia.
OFAC imposed sanctions on Verus LLC, Defense Engineering LLP and Versor SRO, all of which are owned or led by Slovakian national Ashot Mkrtychev.
Mkrtychev was designated on March 30 for "attempting to facilitate arms deals between Russia and the DPRK," according to OFAC.
"This action is part of the continuing US strategy to identify, expose, and disrupt third-country actors seeking to support Russia's brutal war against Ukraine," the department said in a press release.
"As Russia has continued to expend munitions and lose heavy equipment on the battlefield, it has been increasingly forced to turn to its few allies, including the DPRK, to sustain its unprovoked war in Ukraine," it added.
"The United States continues to root out illicit financial networks that seek to channel support from North Korea to Russia's war machine," US Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson was quoted as saying.
"Alongside our allies and partners, we remain committed to exposing and disrupting the arms trade underpinning Putin's brutal war in Ukraine," he added, according to the Treasury Department.
Source: Qatar News Agency