Russia’s Ambassador to North Korea has said he does not consider U.S. and EU sanctions on North Korea legitimate at a press conference in Pyongyang on Wednesday.

Answering questions from DPRK journalists on Russia’s annexation of the Crimea, Ambassador Alexander Matsegora said that only sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council (UNSC) were valid.

“The sanctions of the USA and the EU against Russia are not legitimate, just like the sanctions against the DPRK. Only the UN Security Council is entitled to take compulsory measures,” Matsegora said in a transcript published on the Russian Embassy’s Facebook page.

At the time