America teams up with Russia, China, to pass strict new economic sanctions on North Korea

Nikki Haley.
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to put some of the heaviest sanctions yet on North Korea, including limiting oil exports strictly to their current levels and ordering North Korean workers abroad to return home within two years, The New York Times reports. Friday's 15-0 vote marks a significant step in the process because the United States was joined by Russia and China, which historically have hesitated on escalating sanctions against the regime.

"President Trump has used just about every lever you can use, short of starving the people of North Korea to death, to change their behavior," said White House homeland security adviser, Thomas Bossert, earlier this week. "And so we don't have a lot of room left here to apply pressure to change their behavior."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.