Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons the key to the country’s prosperity on Wednesday, vowing not to let the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) adopt new resolutions targeting the DPRK.

“The main guarantee of prosperity in the modern world … is, however sad it may be to acknowledge, Pyongyang’s possession of nuclear weapons,” Lavrov said after a speech at the Russian parliament, responding a lawmaker’s question

The senior diplomat described North Korea’s nuclear arsenal as a reality that cannot be denied in the face of growing Western threats against Pyongyang.

Lavrov dismissed calls for denuclearization