US accuses Russia and China of protecting North Korea from UN

China and Russia, meanwhile, accuse US of inflaming tensions with large-scale joint military exercises with South Korea

The United States has accused Russia and China of providing blanket protection" to North Korea from further UN Security Council action and said the pair had bent over backwards" to justify Pyongyang's ballistic missile launches.

The US, Britain, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway requested that the Security Council meet on Friday after North Korea, formally known as the DPRK, fired multiple missiles, including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile.