UN Ambassador Haley's strong words on China could help deliver new sanctions on North Korea

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Pressure on China at UN over relationship with North Korea

Rick Leventhal reports from the United Nations

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s warning statement earlier this week on North Korea has added to already significant pressure on China and Russia to support a new draft resolution on Pyongyang.

The new U.S.-sponsored resolution reportedly would punish North Korea by tightening existing sanctions and possibly adding new ones.

Haley upped the ante on Sunday when she wrote in a statement, “the time for talk is over,” as she called on China to take a stand.

At the same time, a Security Council diplomat said an agreement between the U.S. and China on a draft resolution “will play out over the next few days.”

Earlier in the week, Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi responded by putting the onus on the U.S. and North Korea to reduce tensions.

“No matter how capable China is, China’s efforts will not yield practical results as it depends on the two primary parties, they hold the primary responsibility to keep things moving,” he said.

While the proposed U.S. sponsored resolution had been stalled since Pyongyang’s launch of its first ICBM on July 4, some analysts believe last week’s second ICBM launch might have pushed the sides closer together on agreeing a text.

“The last two launches have put us at a critical juncture and the credibility of the Security Council is clearly at stake,” France’s Ambassador to the UN, Francois Delattre, told reporters.

Great Britain’s Ambassador to the world body, Matthew Rycroft, said he hoped that new sanctions would come soon, given the threat North Korea embodies.

“It’s a huge threat to international peace and security that DPRK now appears to have the capability to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile that could in theory hit the UK, could hit most Europe, could hit most of the United States,” Rycroft said.

The new resolution is likely to tighten already existing sanctions and introduce new ones to a sector that has not previously been under sanctions.

Russia has been criticized for slowing down the progress of the resolution by refusing to accept the two launches were ICBMs, even as the North Koreans claimed both were.

“According to objective data that we possess it was not an ICBM,” said Vassily Nebenzia the new Russian ambassador to the United Nations. He told reporters that instead, it was an inter-range ballistic missile.

The Security Council diplomat said this was “yet another example of Russia’s so-called analysis fitting their policy.”

Hugh Dugan, a former American diplomat who served under 15 U.S. ambassadors to the UN, said the way Russia will vote on this will send a signal on its future intentions.

“Russia’s decision to join the effort or spoil forward motion will reveal much about Moscow’s longer term view,” he said.

“Haley’s strong statement over the weekend brought needed urgency to her repeated calls for action. She knows that there is value in UN collaboration instead of each country gambling on its own hunches against North Korea’s bids and flinches,” said Dugan, a visiting fellow at Seton Hall University School of Diplomacy and International Relations.

Fox News’ Kayla Haley contributed to this report.