US, China Agree On North Korea Sanctions

The United States and China have a tentative deal on a draft Security Council sanctions resolution that would punish North Korea for its third nuclear test last month, U.N. diplomats said Monday night.

Separately, the U.N. press office announced that Russia, which holds the presidency of the council this month, will convene a closed-door session on North Korea at 11 a.m. EST Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the U.N. diplomats said they hoped to receive the draft resolution then and have the council vote on it by the end of this week.

"I hope to see a draft tomorrow perhaps, but you know it's up to the Americans," a diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The details of the draft were not immediately available.

Council diplomats have said that they would like to go beyond previous sanctions resolutions adopted after North Korea's 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests, above all those related to the inspection and seizure of shipments of banned items and toughening financial restrictions.

The Security Council unanimously and strongly condemned North Korea's third nuclear test on Feb. 12 and vowed to take action against Pyongyang for an act that all major world powers, including its only friend, China, denounced.

In January the council passed a resolution expanding U.N. sanctions against North Korea due to its December rocket launch and warned Pyongyang against further launches or nuclear tests. North Korea responded by threatening a new atomic detonation, which it then carried out the following month.