Members of the United Nations Security Council have again disagreed on their response to North Korea's ballistic missile launch.

UN diplomatic sources say Japan, South Korea and Western countries condemned the launch as a violation of council resolutions, while Russia and China said the United States is to blame for raising tensions around the Korean Peninsula.

The council convened a closed-door emergency session at the request of Japan, South Korea and the US on Thursday. Its members discussed what Pyongyang claims was a test-firing of a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile on Sunday.

Ahead of the meeting, US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood stressed that North Korea's ballistic missile launches are long-standing provocations that are gravely concerning. He called on council members to recognize that North Korea has violated resolutions.

Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun said that while people's attention now seems to be on North Korea, "other parties are also responsible to avoid further escalations." He is believed to be suggesting that the US should deescalate tensions through dialogue with North Korea.

Sources at the UN say the council meeting also heard an accusation that Russia violated resolutions by firing North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine.