UN security council warns N. Korea to stop nuclear tests or face sanctions

The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned North Korea's latest missile test and threatened to impose new sanctions against Pyongyang for its "highly destabilising behaviour."

The council demanded that North Korea "conduct no further nuclear tests", saying Pyongyang's "illegal missile activities" were "greatly increasing tension in the region and beyond."

The council threatened to "take further significant measures including sanctions" to address the crisis of North Korea's missile launches.

"At the end of the day we realised that North Korea is a problem," spokesperon Nikki Haley said.

"No one on the council wants to see North Korea move forward with any sort of testing or strikes," she added, saying that the agreed statement makes that "very clear".

While previous statements have warned of further measures, the agreed text made specific mention of sanctions, signalling a tougher stance from the council.

Moscow had blocked an earlier version of the statement - which comes after North Korea carried out a failed test on Sunday - even though China, Pyongyang's ally, had expressed its support for it.

U.S. vice-president Mike Pence vowed that the country would counter any North Korean attack with an "overwhelming and effective" response.

However, Russian charge d'affaires Petr Iliichev denied blocking the statement, saying the U.S. had broken off talks on a consensus position in an "abrupt manner.