By Jun Ji-hye

North Korea is escalating calls on the United States to recognize Pyongyang as a nuclear power state after firing what it claimed was a new, more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching any part of the mainland U.S. last week.

The Kim Jong-un regime said the recognition would be the precondition for any negotiations with Washington on its nuclear and missile programs, according to Russian delegates who recently visited Pyongyang.

Pyongyang has repeatedly made such a demand in an apparent bid to sit down at the negotiating table on equal footing with Washington and seek a peace treaty with the U.S.

The renewed demand would make it more difficult to resolve the nuclear stalemate as the Donald Trump administration has made it clear it would not recognize the North as a nuclear power and is preparing harsher sanctions against the repressive state, urging it to give up its nuclear ambition.

Vitaly Pashin, a member of Russia's lower house of parliament, told Russian news agencies Friday the North is "ready to sit at the negotiating table."

"We met with Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea," Pashin told Russian news service Interfax. "He said North Korea is ready to sit down at the negotiating table."

Pashin noted the North Korean high-ranking officials told him the only condition under which Pyongyang would begin negotiations with Washington is the Trump administration's recognition of the North as a nuclear power state.

Pashin told another Russian news agency Tass that the North also criticized South Korea-U.S. joint military drills, quoting North Korean officials as saying Pyongyang had refrained from military provocations for 75 days "awaiting reciprocal steps from the U.S., which, instead of meeting (North Korea) halfway, announced large-scale surprise military drills."

Pashin was a member of a delegation of Russian lawmakers who visited Pyongyang at the invitation of the North Korean parliament from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1.

In the middle of their visit, the North launched what it claimed was a new Hwasong-15 ICBM on a lofted trajectory from an area 30 kilometers north of Pyongyang, which flew 960 kilometers in 53 minutes and reached a maximum altitude of 4,475 kilometers.

After the launch, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who observed the test, declared the North has "finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the cause of building a rocket power," according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

A statement issued by the North Korean government also said its Hwasong-15 ICBM tipped with a "super-large heavy warhead" is capable of striking any part of the U.S. mainland, according to the KCNA.

Defense analysts said if the missile had been fired on a standard trajectory, it could have flown more than 10,000 kilometers, which is, in theory, far enough to reach the U.S. mainland.

Following the provocation, President Trump said more "major sanctions" would be imposed on the North.

According to the White House, Trump also asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to use "all available levers to convince North Korea to end its provocations and return to the path of denuclearization."

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later said the sanctions would target more financial institutions.

The deepening confrontation between Pyongyang and Washington would not resolve North Korean issues for the time being as, according to the Russian politicians, the North said it would boost its military strength as pressure from the international community grows.

"The more the pressure on the DPRK grows, the more our (North Korea's) combat preparedness will strengthen," Pashin told Interfax, conveying the North's position.