The United States Treasury on Friday sanctioned Russia’s Agrosoyuz Commercial Bank for allegedly facilitating a financial transaction on behalf of a North Korean official involved in the country’s nuclear programme.
“Today’s action targets a Russian bank for knowingly facilitating a significant transaction on behalf of an individual designated for weapons of mass destruction-related activities in connection with North Korea,” a statement said.
Any property of the bank is blocked and US persons cannot do transactions with the institution.
The US also put in place measures against a facilitator for a North Korean bank and two front companies for that institution, the Foreign Trade Bank, which the Treasury said is the main foreign exchange bank of Pyongyang.
The move comes even as US President Donald Trump continues to laud his efforts to negotiate a nuclear-disarmament deal with North Korea and regularly points to his relationship with that country’s dictator, Kim Jong-Un.
This week, North Korea returned the remains of US servicemen killed in the Korean War.
