US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said today it was time for the UN Security Council to impose "the strongest possible measures" on North Korea over its sixth and largest nuclear test because "enough is enough."

Haley said the incremental sanctions approach of the 15-member council to North Korea since 2006 had not worked and she described North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as "begging for war."

"Despite our efforts the North Korea nuclear program is more advanced and more dangerous than ever," Haley told the council. "War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited."

Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said military solutions cannot settle the Korean Peninsula issues and warned there was an "urgent need to maintain a cool head and refrain from any action that can escalate tensions."

There was an "urgent need to maintain a cool head and refrain from any action that can escalate tensions

"A comprehensive settlement to the nuclear and other issues plaguing the Korean peninsula can be arrived at solely through political diplomatic channels, including by leveraging the mediation efforts of the United Nations secretary-general," Nebenzia told the UN Security Council.

We strongly urge (North Korea) ... stop taking actions that are wrong, deteriorating the situation and not in line with its own interests either and truly return to the track of resolving the issue through dialogue

China's UN Ambassador Liu Jieyi, in the meantime, urged North Korea to "stop taking actions that are wrong" and called on all parties to "seriously consider" Beijing's proposal for a joint suspension of Pyongyang's ballistic missile and nuclear programs and military drills by the United States and South Korea.

"We strongly urge (North Korea) ... stop taking actions that are wrong, deteriorating the situation and not in line with its own interests either and truly return to the track of resolving the issue through dialogue," Liu told the UN Security Council.

North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sunday, which it said was an advanced hydrogen bomb for a long-range missile, prompting global condemnation and drawing a warning of a "massive" military response from the United States if it or its allies were threatened.