At UN, Russia, China call out ‘unilateral’ sanctions

Russia, facing the threat of Western penalties over Ukraine, and China on Monday spoke out against what they called "unilateral" sanctions imposed by countries without the backing of the United Nations Security Council.

"Only Security Council sanctions are legal," said Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy.

But Polyanskiy denounced "unilateral" measures that hurt peace efforts and interfere with the sovereignty of nations, such as in Syria, Belarus, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Afghanistan, Burma.

For his part, China's ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun said that "coercive unilateral sanctions were a major source of concern."

UN sanctions are currently in place against 14 regimes around the world, affecting countries such as Libya, Yemen, Sudan and militant groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.