North Korea has denounced a recent report from a multilateral sanctions monitoring group on the country’s ties with Russia, calling it an encroachment on the North’s sovereignty. 

In a statement carried by the North’s state Korean Central News Agency on Monday, the chief of the external policy office at the North’s foreign ministry issued the criticism, calling the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team a “bogus group” that lacks legitimacy.

The statement said the team’s report constitutes a wanton violation of international legal principles, which center on sovereignty, equality and noninterference in other countries’ internal affairs.

The North expressed serious concern over what it called provocative and reckless acts by the West that encroach upon the North’s sovereign rights, warning of negative consequences.

The foreign ministry defended the North’s military cooperation with Russia as legitimate under a treaty that requires each party to provide military assistance in case of an armed attack against the other.

Last week, the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team issued its first report detailing military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang in violation of UN Security Council sanctions.