As if international tensions weren’t already high enough given the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Yemen, and the steady creep of rising subvariant-induced COVID infections in the west, North Korea on Thursday carried out what’s believed to be its first ICBM test in more than four years, ratcheting up tensions with South Korea and the US to the highest level since the summer of 2017.

What’s more, the missile launched by the North on Thursday is believed to be the largest ICBM ever tested by the country, and comes after a failed test earlier this month.

The launch occurred as President Biden and other leaders of NATO states gathered in Brussels for back-to-back-to-back summits with NATO, the EU and the G7 where his hopes of convincing the Europeans to ratchet up economic sanctions on Russia will likely collide with their reluctance to risk supplies of Russian energy.