Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton on Sunday discussed over the phone the situation concerning the rocket launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
"The parties favored joint actions in order to prevent the destabilization of the situation in North Eastern Asia, as well as maintaining the six-party process on the Korean peninsula problem," the Interfax news agency cited the statement.
"An agreement to uphold close contacts and to continue consultations on this issue was reached," it said.
Russia has urged all the states concerned to "show restraint in judgments and actions in the current situation."
The DPRK's official media reported earlier that the country had successfully launched a rocket carrying a communications satellite, and the satellite later entered the orbit.
Following that, the UN Security Council approved an emergency session to deal with the launch at a formal request submitted by the Japanese government, which claimed the DPRK's rocket launch violated UN Security Council resolutions whether it was a satellite or a missile.
The DPRK has said its launch of the satellite was part of a peaceful space program. It has also claimed that it is entitled to develop its own space program and other countries like the United States have no right to interfere.