"The DPRK [North Korea] will firmly safeguard its legitimate right as a sovereign state, put no restrictions on exercising it, and continue to make crucial efforts to preserve regional and global peace and security," the statement read.
"The hostile act of the US and its vassal forces constitutes a serious threat undermining the foundation of international peace and security, which goes beyond a politically motivated provocation wantonly infringing upon the sovereignty of sovereign states," the ministry pointed out.
"Recently the US, together with G7 member states, the ROK [South Korea], Australia, New Zealand, and [the] EU, cooked up and released a "joint statement" distorting and slandering the essence of the normal cooperative relations between the DPRK and the Russian Federation, getting hell-bent on creating the international atmosphere of sanctions and pressure on the DPRK [North Korea]," the statement read.
"The Ukrainian war has been prolonged, and the security situation in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region has become more unstable. It is because of the misguided acts of the US and the West persisting in their structure-destructive, hegemony-oriented, and adventurist military policy and policy of exclusive alliance," the statement read.