China, Russia block US bid to sanction North Korea at UN after fourth missile test in month

New York: China and Russia have put on hold a US effort at the United Nations to impose sanctions on five North Korea in response to recent missile launches by Pyongyang, media reports said.

This move came before a closed-door UN Security Council meeting on the issues concerning North Korea. This is the second such meeting in two weeks following Pyongyang's tactical guided missiles lunch this week, Al Jazeera reported.

North Korea has confirmed it launched on Monday two tactical guided missiles that "precisely hit an island target in the East Sea of Korea." This was its fourth missile test in a month.

Earlier, Pyongyang claimed to have successfully tested hypersonic missiles on two occasions.

Ahead of closed UNSC discussions on the issue, US Ambassador to the UN Linda-Thomas Greenfield on Thursday said the US, the UK, France, Ireland, Japan and several other countries urge the Security Council to condemn North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches, "Albania, Brazil, France, Ireland, Japan, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom and the United States call on our fellow council members to be unified in condemning the DPRK [North Korea] for its acts in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. It is this unity in speech and action that has helped in the past bring the DPRK to the negotiating table and could advance stability for the region and international community," Thomas-Greenfield said.

The US diplomat further called on North Korea to cease launches and return to dialogue toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

"We stand ready to support a meaningful return to engagement and diplomacy without preconditions," she said.