US, allies testing Pyongyang's patience: Ryabkov

• 

Moscow is critically keeping up with the situation on the Korean Peninsula and North Korean missile launches, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday, adding that the United States and its allies seem to be testing Pyongyang's patience.

Another intercontinental ballistic missile from Pyongyang was fired earlier in the day, and it's thought to have landed in the water close to the island of Hokkaido in Japan's exclusive economic zone. The defense minister of Japan, Yasukazu Hamada, claimed that if the missile had been launched on a different trajectory, it could have traveled over 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles) and reached the United States mainland.

Read next: DPRK fires ballistic missile, vows 'fiercer' military response

"It is like they [the US and allies] are testing Pyongyang’s patience. We are following developments with concern. And we note that the work in those formats that were previously used to use the theme of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was curtailed at the initiative of Washington. But this does not mean that there are no contacts at all — they will continue at the New York site," Ryabkov told reporters.

The diplomat went on to say that while Moscow is uneasy with the idea of an escalation around the peninsula, the United States is probably not.

'Sides should move away from confrontation'

Commenting on the latest missile launch by North Korea, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday that the sides should move away from confrontation.

"First of all, we remind you that the Russian position in favor of developing a certain scheme for moving forward and moving away from the constantly recurring confrontational spiral around what is happening in the region has been repeatedly stated, developed and modified. In each of its elements, it is a demonstration that we are committed to diplomatic, political way forward — as an alternative to this escalation," Ryabkov told reporters.

'No grounds yet to be satisfied with IAEA report on Ukraine'

On the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on the results of the verification of reports of the preparation of a "dirty bomb" in Ukraine, Ryabkov said Russia has taken note of it, stressing that so far there are no grounds to be satisfied with these data.

The diplomat asserted that Ukraine has the capacity to manufacture such a weapon and use it for provocative ends, adding that Kiev's arsenal in this area goes far beyond the three objects it has publicly declared.

"When we take into account what kind of sponsors this regime has, what these sponsors are capable of, then there are probably no grounds to be satisfied with what the IAEA has collected and prepared," Ryabkov told reporters.

Later, the diplomat said, Moscow will make a decision regarding the IAEA report on Ukraine.

Late last month, in response to Russian reports that Ukraine had developed a dirty bomb, the international watchdog dispatched experts to two nuclear facilities there.

The permanent representative of Russia to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, commented on the report that was released after the trip this week, saying it was only a brief investigation that lasted a few hours and that no one had anticipated that "dirty bombs" would be hidden in plain sight in the middle of the plants.

'Moscow has nothing to talk about Ukraine with Washington'

According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Russia and the United States have no current discussions regarding Ukraine. "There is simply nothing to talk about Ukraine with them [the Americans]," Ryabkov told reporters.

Given the opposing stances taken by the two sides, a dialogue on Ukraine between Moscow and Washington is currently not possible, the diplomat continued.