UNITED NATIONS—The Trump administration worked to move ahead on its top diplomatic priority—the denuclearization of North Korea—but ran head-on into opposition to its plans from Russia, which called for the easing of United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang.
The proposal by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the U.N. Security Council ran directly counter to the U.S. demand that countries maintain strong economic pressure aimed at forcing the country to give up its nuclear weapons.
While the U.S. could veto any proposal to lift sanctions, and most countries on the 15-member Security Council spoke in favor of strictly enforcing sanctions, the remarks undermined a united international message to North Korea at a time when the U.S. and U.N. have found lapses and leaks in sanctions enforcement world-wide.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who chaired the meeting, announced plans to travel to Pyongyang in October to set up another summit meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. But while laboring to push the diplomacy forward, the U.S. has said international sanctions must remain in place to ensure North Korea’s continued cooperation.
However, Mr. Lavrov, speaking at a Security Council meeting on North Korea chaired by Mr. Pompeo, proposed exemptions that would allow joint economic projects in North Korea—such as investments in rail and road infrastructure—to commence.
Mr. Lavrov said such projects would send a positive signal to North Korea as a reward for taking steps to implement a promise to give up its nuclear weapons. He said it was unacceptable to use sanctions as a form of “collective punishment.”
“Negotiations are a two-way street,” he said, adding that Russia would work on a draft proposal to ease sanctions pressure.
A year ago, the Security Council voted to toughen sanctions, a result of months of intense U.S. diplomatic pressure to isolate North Korea for its nuclear tests.
Mr. Pompeo continued to maintain that it was critical for all nations to strictly enforce sanctions to maintain pressure on North Korea.
He used his opening address to swipe at Russia and China, both permanent Security Council members who earlier backed sanctions, over the sale of petroleum products in excess of North Korea’s maximum 500,000-barrel allowance and other forms of economic relief.
“The members of this Council must set the example on that effort, and we must all hold each other accountable,” Mr. Pompeo said.
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He called for an end to ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products, a practice linked to Chinese and Russian entities. He also said member states should stop hosting North Korean laborers, a reference to the thousands of workers who have been granted permission to work in Russia.
“This violates the spirit and the letter of the Security Council resolutions that we all agreed to uphold,” he told the Council.
Mr. Lavrov defended North Korea’s call for economic relief, saying Pyongyang has taken meaningful steps toward implementing its promise to give up its nuclear weapons and urged the U.N. Security Council to send a “positive signal” in return.
In addition, the Russian foreign minister took aim at the U.S. for implementing secondary sanctions, which he described as “illicit practices” that undermine the sovereignty of other nations.
The U.S. this month placed sanctions on a Russian company for providing port services to North Korean ships, and Chinese companies for exporting alcohol and cigarettes to North Korea.
The Russian minister’s calls at the Security Council for a softer approach were met with opposition by U.S. allies, including Japan, France and the U.K., who all spoke out on the need for unity at the Council and the strict enforcement of U.N. sanctions.
South Korea, meanwhile, said North Korea was prepared to undertake the major step of dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear reactor if the U.S. offered a reciprocal concession. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha didn’t specify what steps the U.S. might take.
South Korea under President Moon Jae-in has been discussing economic cooperation with North Korea as an incentive for denuclearization in talks that have been under way this year. Mr. Moon in August proposed a joint railway.
North Korea, along with Russia, wants the Security Council to lift restrictions or offer exemptions that would provide economic relief in exchange for progress rolling back its nuclear and missile programs.
Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, who led North Korea’s delegation to the U.N. this week, didn’t attend the Security Council meeting. He met separately with both the U.S. and Russia ahead of the event.
The U.S. and its allies say sanctions must remain in place until North Korea has fully implemented its promise to denuclearize. It is unclear what incentives may work as an alternative.
Mr. Trump has eased pressure in other areas of the negotiations and plans a second meeting with Mr. Kim this year.
Mr. Trump on Wednesday reversed earlier administration demands for a strict timeline for denuclearization, saying that “if it takes two years, three years or five months, doesn’t matter.”
In June, the administration said it hoped to achieve “major disarmament” of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal during his first term in office.
Mr. Moon, who has been a key force behind the nuclear talks, met with Mr. Trump on Monday. He made a fresh push for progress toward an exchange of declarations between the U.S. and North Korea, a step seen as a key trust-building exercise.
In this step, the U.S. would agree to a formal peace treaty with North Korea in return for a list of Pyongyang’s nuclear- and ballistic-missile assets. During Monday’s meeting, Mr. Moon asked Mr. Trump to support a political declaration that hostilities on the Korean Peninsula have come to an end.
Such a statement that would be largely symbolic and would differ from a formal peace treaty, which the U.S. has been insisting shouldn’t come until the end of the diplomatic process—after the denuclearization of North Korea is complete. While it would fall short of a formal treaty, Mr. Moon has asserted that it would nonetheless be an important gesture to encourage North Korea to start taking concrete steps to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.
—Michael R. Gordon at the United Nations and Courtney McBride in Washington
contributed to this article.
Write to Jessica Donati at jessica.donati@wsj.com
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