Russia understands North Korea’s decision to renew frequent missile launches and sees no prerequisites to restart Korea de-nuclearisation talks, RIA news agency quoted a Russian foreign ministry official as saying on Tuesday.

North Korea tested a record number of missiles in January, including its largest since 2017, and launched a ballistic missile into the sea in a resumption of weapons tests in late February. It launched another one last Saturday.

According to Reuters, Pyotr Ilyichyov, head of the international organisations division at the foreign ministry, said that when Pyongyang paused missile tests before there had been an increase in military cooperation between Seoul and Washington.

Ilyichyov said he saw no prerequisites for the resumption of de-nuclearisation talks because Washington has chosen to pursue the path of sanctions against Pyongyang.