New York/Beijing — The US and China have agreed on new UN sanctions to impose on North Korea over the nuclear test it conducted in September, but Russia is delaying action on a draft resolution, a senior security council diplomat said on Wednesday. The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, believed China could persuade Russia to agree to the new sanctions and that the 15-member security council could vote on the draft resolution as early as next week. Since North Korea’s fifth and largest nuclear test on September 9, the US and China, a close ally of North Korea, have been negotiating a new draft security council resolution to punish Pyongyang. That draft text was recently given to the remaining three permanent council veto powers — Britain, France and Russia. "The [permanent five members] are getting very close to agreement on a draft resolution," the diplomat said. "The key thing is that China and the US, who have led this, have got to a position that they agree on. So th...
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