"I would warn against expecting sort of a snap resolution," spokesman Tony Snow told reporters after US President George W. Bush reached out to leaders of Japan, South Korea, China and Russia in an effort to forge a unified front.

Diplomacy on the issue is not like a televised situation comedy and "doesn't wrap up in 30 minutes and come to a neat, happy conclusion," he added.

He spoke as the UN Security Council resumed debate on a binding draft resolution condemning the North Korean missile launches, seeking to overcome Chinese and Russian resistance to a call for sanctions as Pyongyang remained defiant.

Council experts huddled behind closed doors at 11:30 am (1530 GMT) in a bid to narrow differences over a text urging financial sanctions against Pyongyang after it test-fired Wednesday seven missiles, including a new long-range Taepodong-2 which could theoretically reach US soil.

The experts failed to resolve their differences in a first meeting Wednesday and reported back to their capitals overnight for instructions on how to proceed.

The Japanese draft, co-sponsored by the United States and Britain, would urge UN member states to prevent the transfer of financial resources, items, goods and technology that could contribute to Pyongyang's missile program and other weapons of mass destruction programs.

Although the text enjoys broad support among the council's 15 members, Russia and China, two veto-wielding permanent members, are resisting the reference to punitive measures and to Chapter Seven of the UN charter, diplomats said.

Chapter 7, which is invoked in cases of threats to international peace and security, can lead to sanctions or even military action.

Russia and China say they want the council to adopt a blander, non-binding statement without any threat of sanctions.

related report

Bush courts China, Russia on North Korea

US President George W. Bush courted Russia and China's support on Thursday for confronting North Korea over its missile barrage as US diplomats aided a Japanese push for UN sanctions on Pyongyang.

With Beijing and Moscow unyieldingly opposed to punitive measures, Bush emphasized that he sought a diplomatic solution to the crisis but that it would be most effective if the United States and its partners spoke with "one voice."

"One way to send a message is through the United Nations. And the Japanese laid down a resolution which we support. But we're working with our partners to make sure we speak with one voice," said the president.

The draft measure, co-sponsored by the United States and Britain, would urge UN member states to prevent the transfer of financial resources, items, goods and technology that could contribute to Pyongyang's missile program and other weapons of mass destruction programs.

After telephone discussions with leaders of China, Japan, Russia and South Korea, Bush declared: "I was pleased from the response I got from the leaders. They, like me, are concerned."

Bush, facing opposition from veto-wielding UN Security Council members Russia and China to any sanctions against Pyongyang, cautioned that it would take time to cement what he described as a critical international consensus.

"Diplomacy takes a while, particularly when you're dealing with a variety of partners. And so, we're spending time diplomatically making sure that voice is unified," he said. "These problems won't be solved overnight."

Asked to assess how much of a threat North Korean leader Kim Jong-il posed to international security, Bush said it was hard to say because "what we don't know is his intentions."

"And so I think we've got to plan for the worst and hope for the best," he said. "And planning for the worst means to make sure that we continue to work with friends and allies as well as those who've agreed to be a part of the six-party talks, to continue to send a unified message."

In the past, Bush has said that any action against North Korea would require consensus, a reflection, according to aides, that it would be pointless to seek UN action unless Russia and China are on board.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said that Bush had not raised the issue of sanctions in his telephone conversations Thursday with Chinese President Hu Jintao or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And Snow acknowledged that there was not yet a "unified front" among Washington's partners in the stalled six-party talks aimed at ending the crisis over North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.

And Bush himself said: "I was on the phone this morning saying as clearly as I could to our fellow partners, four other leaders, to say, 'Let's send a common message that you won't be rewarded for ignoring the world and that you'll be isolated if you continue to do this, and yet there's a way forward.'"

In Beijing, China's foreign ministry said that Hu had appealed for calm and restraint in responding to a North Korean missile barrage and that China "was opposed to any actions that might intensify the situation.

"We are seriously concerned about the current state of affairs. Under the current complicated situation, maintaining calm and restraint is very necessary," said a statement on the foreign ministry's website.

In Moscow, Putin said during an Internet question-and-answer session that: "We are disappointed at what happened ... an atmosphere needs to be created for reaching a compromise" with North Korea.

But compromise appeared elusive at the United Nations.

Although Japan's text enjoys broad support among the council's 15 members, Russia and China, two veto-wielding permanent members, are resisting the reference to punitive measures and to Chapter Seven of the UN charter, diplomats said.

Chapter 7, which is invoked in cases of threats to international peace and security, can lead to sanctions or even military action.

Russia and China say they want the council to instead adopt a blander, non-binding statement without any threat of sanctions.

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