Russia has blocked Washington’s bid to expand sanctions against North Korea at a UN Security Council committee, because the US stance is entirely unconvincing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

"Russia has blocked the US bid at UN Security Council 1718 Committee on imposing international sanctions on one individual and several legal entities, including Russia’s Agrosoyuz commercial bank, allegedly operating illegally in violation of the sanctions regime in relation to that country. The body of evidence presented by the Americans to substantiate its proposal is entirely unconvincing," the ministry stressed.

Washington’s plans to broaden sanctions against Pyongyang cause utter rejection and run counter to the logic of detente, the ministry said.

"US new sanctions approaches both fail to improve the atmosphere of the Russian-US relations and run counter to the logic of d·tente concerning North Korea," the ministry stressed.

It is obvious that Washington is seeking to "keep maximum pressure" on Pyongyang as long as possible actually until the "completion of the denuclearization process," the statement says.

"Such a destructive course for settling the problems of the Korean peninsula causes utter rejection," the statement reads.