Vladimir Putin has warned against attempting to intimidate North Korea after Pyongyang said it had successfully launched a nuclear-capable missile in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

In his first comments since a North Korean missile plunged into the sea off the Russian coast on Sunday, Mr Putin condemned Pyongyang’s nuclear program as "harmful and dangerous.”

But he added that the international community should respond with talks, not threats, and appeared to blame US policy for provoking the crisis.