North Korea brags to Russia about ICBM capable of hitting US west coast

A Russian lawmaker who recently returned from a trip to North Korea has revealed that the country is preparing for another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test as rhetoric escalates between the US and the hermit kingdom, Russian media reports.

According to RT, an anonymous source in Russia's nationalist Liberal Democratic party told Interfax that MP Anton Morozov said while addressing a party caucus:"Kim Jong-un has said that he would 'tame the united states with fire' and as part of this 'taming' they are now readying for tests a new intercontinental ballistic missile that, according to their calculations, must be capable of hitting the US West Coast."

Tensions between the US and North Korea have escalated further rapidly after a quick series of missiles tests from North Korea and at least one test of a nuclear device. Experts are worried that the Kim dictatorship might soon have developed an ICBM capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching America's west coast.

Morozov is part of the Committee for International Relations and was in North Korea between 2 - 6 October with two colleagues as part of a trip organised by the committee's chair and the Russian Foreign Ministry.

During a speech at the United National in September, US President Donald Trump said if the US is "forced to defend itself or its allies", the country "will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea". Morozov reportedly said that the comments left North Korean officials "very upset" and many thought it amounted to a declaration of war.

Russia attempted to act as mediator between the North Korea and the US with a statement on Monday calling for both sides to tone down the escalating rhetoric. Dmitry Peskov, Russian president Vladimir Putin's press secretary, told reporters: "Moscow has called and continues to call on the parties involved in the conflict, and on those who have anything to do with this issue, to exercise restraint and to avoid any steps that would only worsen the situation".