RUSSIA has issued a severe warning to Donald Trump as its foreign minister said the escalation over North Korea is "unacceptable".
Sergey Lavrov told his US counterpart, Rex Tillerson, the escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula is unacceptable.
Russia's foreign ministry, said: "Lavrov underlined the inadmissibility of any escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula, to which the USA's military preparations lead, and called for contradictions to be resolved by diplomatic means only."
During a phone call with Secretary of State Mr Tillerson, Vladimir Putin's right hand man discussed Syria, Korea and Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry revealed.
Mr Lavrov also told Mr Tillerson Moscow is demanding the US returns Russian diplomatic property seized in 2016 over suspected Russian interference in the general election.
Former US president Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and ordered some of its US diplomatic properties to be vacated.
The pair's phone call came just hours after Donald Trump's most senior general told the US Army to "stand ready" for war with North Korea.
General James 'Mad dog' Mattis warned it is impossible to tell what the future holds for the crisis, but urged US troops to be prepared for a confrontation with Kim Jong-un.
He said while Mr Trump is committed to finding a diplomatic solution, the US Army must "standy ready" to fight.
General Mattis, said: "It is right now a diplomatically led, economic-sanction buttressed effort to try to turn North Korea off this path.
"Now what does the future hold? Neither you nor I can say, so there is one thing the US Army can do.
"And that is you have got to be ready to ensure that we have military options that our President can employ if needed."
Although he added the future is unpredictable, General Mattis again said the effort to stop North Korea was diplomatically led.
Mr Tillerson himself has been in the middle of a media storm after being accused of calling Mr Trump a "moron".
He has not denied the allegations but instead shrugged it off as "petty nonsense" and praised the president.
He said: "There has never been a consideration in my mind to leave.
"I serve at the appointment of the president and I'm here as long as the president thinks I can be useful to achieving his objectives.
"He loves his country.
"He puts America and Americans first.
"He's smart. He demands results wherever he goes and he holds those around him accountable for whether they have done the job he has asked them to do."