President Moon Jae-in‘s push to raise pressure on North Korea to a “new dimension” appears to have hit a wall with Russian President Vladimir Putin effectively ruling out further sanctions.

Following a summit meeting with Moon in Vladivostok on Wednesday, Putin reiterated his view that sanctions are not the solution.

In addition, Putin effectively rejected Moon’s suggestion of cutting off oil supply to North Korea.

“No matter how much pressure is applied, North Korea will not give up its nuclear (weapons program) to safeguard security,” Putin was quoted as saying by Seoul’s chief presidential press officer Yoon Young-chan.

According to Yoon, Putin reiterated that Russia’s oil exports to North Korea were negligible compared to its overall oil exports, and raised concerns that such a move would impact North Korean civilians.

“We oppose and condemn North Korea’s nuclear program. But, we have the concern that stopping oil supply would affect North Korean hospitals, and the private sector.”

At the meeting, Moon had requested Russia take a bigger role in taming North Korea, as he had done in their telephone conversation on Monday.

“To bring North Korea dialogue, (UN) Security Council sanctions must be made stronger,” Moon said, describing Putin along with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the two leaders who hold the key to stopping North Korea’s provocations.

“As stopping crude oil supply to the North is unavoidable, (I) request Russia’s cooperation.”

While tougher sanctions have been imposed, North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs appear to have continued unaffected, culminating in Sunday’s nuclear test. Following the test, the sixth and reportedly most powerful to date, Pyongyang claimed it had secured the technology to mount hydrogen bomb warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles.

With North Korea continuing to defy the international community, eyes have turned to China and Russia to take more active roles.

Although to a lesser extent than Beijing, Moscow has been instrumental in blunting the impact of sanctions against the North’s Kim Jong-un regime.

According to reports, Russia’s trade with North Korea showed over a surge of over 70 percent on-year in the first six months of this year. Fuel, including crude oil, accounts for much of North Korea’s imports from Russia.

Putin, however, has played down Moscow’s interaction with North Korea, saying that oil exports and the number of North Korean workers in Russia are both negligible.

Speaking at the recent summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa held in China, Putin also refuted the efficacy of further sanctions, describing them as “useless” and adding that military developments in the region would lead to “global catastrophe.”

Russia, however, may be leaving room for maneuvering on the issue.

On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov hinted at possible room for discussion in his telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov reiterated that North Korea should be dealt with “political and diplomatic tools,” but that Russia is ready to consider the US’ draft resolution provided that included measures are within such boundaries.

While Seoul’s efforts to recruit Russia’s aid in North Korean issues appears to be faltering, the two sides made progress on economic issues.

At the summit, the two leaders agreed to the idea of raising bilateral trade volume to $30 billion by 2020, and to execute various economic projects.

“We have agreed to establish joint working level group to discuss free trade agreement between South Korea and the Eurasian Economic Union,” Moon said in the joint press conference.

Moon also revealed that the two countries have agreed to establish bodies to aid bilateral trade and investment, saying that the Russian Fareast is a “land of opportunity” should Russian’s natural resources and Korea’s advanced technologies are brought together.

Moon added that he and Putin agreed to lay the foundations for South-North-Russia cooperation in the region, by pushing ahead with projects that are possible without Pyongyang’s cooperation.

(cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)