Lee said he told US counterpart Donald Trump the sanctions were not working when the two leaders met at a G7-summit in France this week and discussed the long-running standoff between South Korea and its nuclear-armed northern neighbour. "I told him sanctions and pressure (against the North) are ineffective", Lee told reporters in Seoul. The effectiveness of sanctions has diminished due to military cooperation between North Korea and Russia stemming from the war in Ukraine. "Even a small amount of assistance from Russia is of great help to North Korea", Lee said. The two Koreas remain technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, and are separated by a demilitarised zone through which the border runs. Trump signed a deal while he was in France aimed at ending the war in the Middle East and speculation has been rife that his administration will next shift its focus to North Korea. On Sunday, Trump posted an uncaptioned photo of him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un taken at a meeting in Singapore in 2018. Lee said Trump had told him in the French town of Evian that "the time had come to pay attention to the North Korea issue". (Bssnews)