WASHINGTON

The US and seven allies accused Russia on Wednesday of exploiting its role as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to shield itself from the repercussions of its use of North Korean missiles in Ukraine. 

"The export of these weapons from the DPRK to Russia blatantly violates multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions that prohibit UN Member States from procuring arms or related materiel from the DPRK and prohibit the DPRK from exporting arms or related materiel," the US, UK, France, Japan, Malta and Slovenia said in a statement.

They were referring to North Korea by its formal acronym.

"Each violation makes the world a much more dangerous place. And a permanent Security Council member that willingly engages in these violations demonstrates a clear exploitation of its position," the nations said in reference to Russia.

The statement comes after the White House said last Thursday that Russia used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in attacks on Ukraine during the New Year holiday. The weapons were "recently" transferred from Pyngonang, and were used in at least two strikes, it said.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said North Korea continues to seek a wide array of military equipment from Russia in return for its supplies of weapons, including fighter jets, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, equipment to build additional ballistic missiles and other advanced technologies.

North Korea has been under a sweeping UN arms embargo since 2006. The sanctions have since been repeatedly tightened to include the import and export of nearly all types of weapons.

During a UN Security Council meeting Wednesday, the US accused Russia of attempting to "deflect" when pressed on its alleged acquisition of North Korean arms. "It's abhorrent that a permanent member of the UN Security Council is flagrantly violating Council resolutions to attack another UN member state," it said.

Russia, Ambassador Robert Wood told the Council, that it "is desperate to deflect attention away from its, and the DPRK's, violations of UN Security Council resolutions, including the UN arms embargo, which prohibits all member states from procuring arms or related material from the DPRK and prohibits the DPRK from exporting arms."

Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow's UN envoy, accused Washington of "spreading information that is wrong without going through the trouble of checking this beforehand."

Meanwhile, attacks against Ukraine have escalated in the new year, the UN warned.

"The new year has brought no respite to Ukraine. On the contrary, in recent weeks, the country has been suffering some of the worst attacks since the beginning of the illegal war," Rosemary DiCarlo, under-secretary-general for political affairs, told the Council.

"Civilians in frontline communities bear the heaviest burden of the missile, drone and artillery barrages," she said.