Kremlin Concerned over North Korea’s Announcement of Using Nuclear Weapons

The Kremlin is concerned over North Korea’s statements about its readiness to use nuclear forces and urges all states to display restraint, reports TASS, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

“Certainly, it causes rather serious concern and we, of course, are very closely monitoring the situation and hope that all countries of the region and third countries will maintain a balanced and restrained approach in this difficult situation,” he said.

Earlier on Friday, North Korea made a statement in response to the UN Security Council resolution on the toughening of sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test and a space rocket launch.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has told the country’s military to deploy the nuclear warheads so they can be fired at “any moment” and be prepared to launch preemptive attacks against its enemies. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said on Friday that the forces hostile to Pyongyang led by the United States have approved “an unprecedented and gangster-like” resolution imposing sanctions on the country, undermining its rights as a sovereign state. In these circumstances, the agency reported, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un supervised the testing of a new multi-purpose missile launcher, which “will strengthen the striking power of the Korean People’s Army.”

The UN Security Council on Wednesday imposed a new set of tougher sanctions on North Korea to punish it for conducting a fourth nuclear test on January 6 and its subsequent launch of a long-range rocket using ballistic missile technology, both of which breached the UN Security Council’s previous resolutions.