A senior U.S. official said that North Korea's continued ballistic missile launches and preparations for a nuclear test pose a challenge to global security that cannot be ignored.

Bonnie Jenkins, U.S. under secretary of state for arms control and international security, made the remarks on Monday during a session of the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland.

Jenkins said that the world is facing the consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine as well as other challenges, mentioning Iran's nuclear development and China's nuclear buildup, but recent global events have stalled action against nuclear threats.

The U.S. official said that the world established a means to control the expansion of armaments through various treaties, including the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Biological Weapons Convention and Chemical Weapons Convention, but expressed frustration with the paralyzed functions of disarmament organizations.

Jenkins also sharply criticized Russia for suspending its participation in the nuclear weapons treaty, the New START, saying that Russia is once again showing the world that it is not a responsible nuclear power.