We condemn in the strongest possible terms the illegal test of a ballistic missile by North Korea the day before yesterday. Both the development of short- and medium-range missiles and the conduct of tests violate the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and pose a blatant threat to security both on the Korean Peninsula and in the entire region. We urge North Korea to refrain from further missile launches and to abide by its obligations under international law. North Korea is under an obligation to completely, verifiably and irreversibly end its programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.

We also urge North Korea to halt its illegal arms supplies to Russia. These arms supplies and the deployment of North Korean missiles by Russia in Ukraine violate the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and pose a direct threat to European security.

We are very concerned by the agreement concluded between North Korea and Russia on intensifying military, economic and scientific cooperation. It highlights once more the global dimension of the security threats of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In this connection, we want to point out that supporting the North Korean programmes to develop ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction is prohibited under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.