President Joe Biden mistakenly said on Friday that North Korea has stood with the United States against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“When I called for sanctions against Russia, in addition to NATO, did Australia, Japan, North Korea, some of the [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] countries would stand up and support those sanctions,” said Biden, addressing the commencement and commissioning at the U.S. Naval Academy.
More than 1,200 midshipmen were in this year’s class.
North Korea was one of five countries to vote against a U.N. resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It has blamed the United States for the conflict.
“The root cause of the Ukraine crisis totally lies in the hegemonic policy of the U.S. and the West, which enforce themselves in high-handedness and abuse of power against other countries,” said a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson shortly after the invasion.
On Thursday, Russia and China exercised their permanent veto in the U.N. Security Council to block additional U.N. sanctions on North Korea.
“For the first time in 15 years, a UN Security Council member has used a veto to stop the council from fulfilling its responsibility to hold the DPRK [North Korea] accountable for its unlawful proliferation,” said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “The vetoes today are dangerous. Those members today have taken a stance that not only undermines the Security Council’s previous action to which they have committed but also undermines our collective security.”
Watch above, via CSPAN.
