"The US Administration has once again put in question the labored groundwork for political and diplomatic movement forward [in settling the North Korean crisis]. Thus it will bear the responsibility for the possible outcomes of this," Ryabkov said.
On Wednesday, US Vice President Mike Pence said that the United States would soon roll out its "toughest and most aggressive" round of economic sanctions to ensure the denuclearization of North Korea.
"These statements seem to us deeply disappointing, they once again create an atmosphere of tension in relation to what can happen in the short term," he also said, commenting on the statement.
The deputy minister noted that the statement was particularly regrettable given the resumption of dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang.
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"Right now, when there seems to be relative calm and signs that Pyongyang and Seoul will continue direct dialogue at the political level, the US side is opposing it and in fact showing a lack of interest in ensuring that these processes of enhancing exchange of views between the North and the South continued on the Korean peninsula," Ryabkov said.
The situation on the Korean Peninsula sharply deteriorated in 2017, after North Korea conducted a series of missile launches, as well as a nuclear test. In December, the UN Security Council, at the initiative of the United States, introduced new international sanctions against Pyongyang, which became the most stringent yet in the 21st century. The resolution provides serious restrictions on the supply of fuel and other goods to the DPRK, and all countries of the United Nations were instructed to send North Korean labor migrants home.
