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Gabriel said in a statement Wednesday that “the ruthless behaviour of North Korea is an enormous threat for international security.”

He said that “the regime in Pyongyang has again escalated tensions in the region with its latest test.”

Gabriel added that the missile launch was “proof what a threat North Korea poses for world peace.”

After 2 1/2 months of relative quiet, North Korea said it successfully fired a “significantly more” powerful, nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile early Wednesday. Outside governments and analysts concurred it had made a jump in capability.

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7:35 p.m.

Russia says North Korea’s latest missile test is a provocation that has hurt the chances for settling the ongoing crisis.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, voiced hope Wednesday that all parties involved would “maintain the calm needed to prevent the situation on the Korean Peninsula from developing along the worst scenario.”

Peskov condemned the North’s missile test as a “provocative action that foments tensions and puts off the launch of efforts to settle the crisis situation.” He added that “there is no reason for optimism.”

The test took place just as a Russian parliamentary delegation was visiting Pyongyang. Leonid Slutsky, the head of the lower house’s international affairs committee, said its members were conveying Moscow’s concern and trying to encourage the North to “stop the destructive escalation of tensions.”