South Korea "should take Pyongyang's warnings very seriously and cease further escalation on the peninsula through their reckless and provocative campaign, which exacerbates tension and could lead to actual armed confrontations," said Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson from Russia's Foreign Ministry in a statement on Monday.
The statement came shortly after Russia's state-run Sputnik news agency reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a bill to the State Duma to ratify a treaty on a strategic partnership with North Korea.
The treaty, signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June, includes mutual defense provisions, which have fueled speculation about potential arms deals between the two isolated countries.
