Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has ordered an inquiry into the information published in The New York Times regarding missile engine supplies from Ukraine to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"I ordered an urgent, thorough and full investigation of the situation to be conducted under chairmanship of the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, and with participation of the inter-agency commission for military-technical cooperation policy and export control, as well as Pivdenmash state enterprise and Pivdenne design bureau, and to report the results within three days," Poroshenko wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

Ukraine cherishes its reputation as a reliable partner in protecting and not spreading rocket and space technologies, and duly abides by the international rules for non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the president said. "Having voluntarily rid ourselves from the world's third most powerful nuclear potential, we made a unique contribution in international security and would never let ourselves doubt our adherence to international commitments," Poroshenko wrote.

Whatever absurd the accusations directed at Ukraine may look, "as responsible partners we must carefully verify the information published by the New York Times about the alleged deliveries of rocket engines or relevant technologies to North Korea," Poroshenko wrote.

"I am convinced that this will help prove with certainty the contrived nature of presumptions about 'the Ukrainian trail' in the North Korean ballistic history and is likely to locate the real source and design of this unsubstantiated fake," Poroshenko wrote.

The New York Times reported on August 14 citing conclusions by a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies that the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile launched by the DPRK in July may have been powered by an engine designed on the basis of the RD-250, which was developed for Soviet ICBMs in the 1960s.

The report names the state-owned Pivdenmash machine-building plant, which The New York Times describes as "one of Russia's primary producers of missiles even after Ukraine gained independence," as the most likely supplier of technology for building the North Korean missile's engine.

Pivdenmash dismissed the allegations aired by The New York Times and described them as an attempt to discredit Pivdenmash and Ukraine.