Russia's Foreign Ministry said it was greatly concerned about a plan of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to launch a satellite later this month.
"We have to state that by intending to violate the requirements of the UN Security Council once again, the DPRK shows defiant disregard of the universally recognised norms of international law," Xinhua quoted an online Foreign Ministry statement on Wednesday.
The statement added that Russia called on the DPRK to seriously consider the consequences of openly acting in opposition to the international community and "to assess realistically the full costs of such short-sighted moves."
A UN spokesperson said on Tuesday that three UN organisations have been informed by the DPRK of its plans to launch an Earth-observation satellite between February 8 and 25.
South Korea and Japan condemned this plan on Wednesday on suspicion that Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, was in fact intending to test a long-range ballistic missile.
Also on Wednesday, China expressed its serious concern about the plan and said it hoped the DPRK would exercise restraint and deal with the issue prudently so as to avoid a possible escalation of tension.
