Foreign ministers of 47 countries and the European Union have issued a joint statement condemning North Korea's exports of ballistic missiles to Russia and Russia's use of the missiles against Ukraine.

The US State Department, along with countries including South Korea, Japan, and Ukraine, and the EU released the statement on Tuesday condemning missile launches on December 30 and January 2.

The foreign ministers say, "The transfer of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia's war of aggression, and undermines the global non-proliferation regime."

They say they are deeply concerned about the security implications that the cooperation between North Korea and Russia has in Europe, on the Korean Peninsula, across the Indo-Pacific region.

They also say the international community is closely monitoring what Russia provides to North Korea in return for the weapons.

The statement calls on Russia and North Korea to abide by relevant UN Security Council resolutions and to immediately cease all activities that violate them.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said at a news conference on Tuesday that Russian forces had again launched several North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine on January 6.

Kirby said at least one of the missiles landed in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.