![Russia oil tankers are accused of supplying North Korea. - [Image via Brosen / Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/12/30/660x290/b_502x220x82/russia-oil-tankers-are-accused-of-supplying-north-korea-image-via-wikimedia_1754887.jpg "Russia oil tankers are accused of supplying North Korea. - [Image via Brosen / Wikimedia Commons]")
On at least three occasions in recent months, Russian cargo ships have been spotted transferring oil shipments to North Korean ships out at sea. This is a major violation of the sanctions imposed by the United Nations. A report by Yahoo! provided many of the facts used in this article.
Russia is also a voting member of the UN with veto powers, further complicating the issue with trying to control North Korea.
This comes on the heels of a report showing that China has also been skirting the sanctions meant to reign in the North Korean nuclear program.
While Chinese vessels were caught red-handed in ports making oil sales, the Russians aimed to move the transfers to international waters in an attempt to avoid scrutiny.
This can contribute to war
The manner in which both Russia and China have disregarded any sanctions or policy desires of the UN is leading the world closer to war. Their veto voting power also makes any hard-line decision making nearly impossible as they continue to bail out their delinquent allies.
The United States has long acted in good faith in dealing with the North Korean crisis. The wait and see policy was long adopted due to the thinking that the reclusive nation was at best decades away from developing the technology to strike the mainland US.
However, due to their ability to work around the crippling sanctions, North Korea has managed to develop both the nuclear weapons and the ICBM's needed to strike nearly anywhere in the US. This somewhat sudden rapid advancement of technology has led to many calling for military intervention before they strike first.
Nothing happens without Russia and China
While publicly denying that they are helping keep the Kim regime alive, both Russia and China are the keys to ending this crisis without conflict. They are needed to act as a mediator to North Korea.
More importantly, they need to abide by any sanctions and show that the regime can truly be cut off.
Every time they are able to get the supplies needed through back channels, it makes the policy of sanctions useless. While they vote down any real effective measures by claiming some frivolous excuse, their support for the North Koreans cannot be denied.
If war were to break out, we could see a repeat of the last Korean war. Ideally, the US would like to see the South win and unify the country, China and Russia will silently support the North to prevent that from happening. If the North were to gain too much of an advantage, the US would likely intervene heavily.
There are numerous proxy wars being fought by major world powers around the world. Yemen and Syria are two that come to mind.
This one, however, has all the potential to drag the major world powers into another world war, just as were the risks 60 years ago.
