MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. Moscow is watching the situation around the Korean Peninsula with concern, as the US and its allies test Pyongyang's patience, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the media on Friday.
"We are following the developments with concern," he said, while commenting on reports of North Korean missile launches.
Ryabkov recalled that the Russian position on this issue had been stated many times.
"It has evolved and been modified. Each of its elements is a demonstration that we are committed to moving forward along the political and diplomatic path as an alternative to this fanning of tensions. In the meantime, the United States and its allies in this region prefer a different path, as if testing Pyongyang's patience. This has been especially noticeable lately," Ryabkov said.
Ryabkov noted that the work in the formats that were previously used, among other things, to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and ways of strengthening security there, had been curtailed at Washington’s initiative. The same happened in many other areas.
"But this does not mean that there are no contacts at all. They will continue on the New York platform," he pointed out.
"We will see. If necessary, we will state our policy once again. It is verified, logical and indisputable. The people who do not want to take it into account demonstrate that they have other priorities and escalation scenarios. Possibly, they feel more comfortable to have it that way. We do not," he added.
Missile launch
North Korea on Friday morning launched a missile which Japan classified as intercontinental. The missile flew about 1,000 kilometers along a steep trajectory, rising to a maximum altitude of 6,000 kilometers and splashed down about 200 kilometers west of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, within Japan’s exclusive economic zone. According to Japanese Defense Ministry estimates, if launched along an ordinary trajectory, such a missile is capable of flying more than 15,000 kilometers to reach the continental part of the United States.
The launch took place the day after the North Korean Foreign Minister, Choe Son-hui, said that Pyongyang would respond proportionately to the strengthening of US deterrence, which the leaders of the Republic of Korea, the United States and Japan agreed upon at the trilateral summit in Cambodia.