The United States and Ukraine held a Nonproliferation Working Group Meeting in Kiev on Tuesday where officials discussed the importance of trade controls needed to address the growing threat from North Korea‘s nuclear and ballistic missile program, the U.S. Department of State said in a release.
“Interagency experts from both sides met to discuss a range of nonproliferation, counterproliferation, and strategic trade control challenges and how the countries can best cooperate to address those challenges,” the release said.
“In light of the growing threat from the DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic missile program, this meeting put special emphasis on promoting effective and robust implementation of strategic trade controls and all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions,” it added.
The New York Times reported in August that North Korea’s latest success in testing ballistic missiles became possible due to purchases of powerful rocket engines from a Ukrainian factory on a black market.