Six European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, issued a joint statement Wednesday denouncing North Korea's test-firings of ballistic missiles last week, following an informal meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

The United States, which is exploring dialogue with North Korea, refrained from joining the statement as it has on recent similar occasions.

In the statement, the six countries said they are "deeply concerned by the continued testing of ballistic missiles" by North Korea, including on Nov. 28.

"We condemn these provocative actions. They undermine regional security and stability, as well as international peace and security, and are in clear violation of unanimously adopted U.N. Security Council resolutions," it said.

Referring to North Korea's recent security threats against partners in the region and beyond, the six countries urged Pyongyang to "engage in good faith in meaningful negotiations with the United States aimed at denuclearization, and to take concrete steps to abandoning all weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner."

The six countries also include Belgium, Estonia and Poland, none of which currently sits on the Security Council.

Britain, France and Germany have taken the lead in addressing North Korea's missile launches at the U.N. Security Council. The United States has downplayed the matter as long as North Korea's test-firings are short-range missiles, with President Donald Trump seeking progress in the nuclear talks ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

North Korea has conducted 13 sets of ballistic missile launches since May. Despite international outcry over each instance, the Security Council has not adopted new punitive measures as China and Russia, two veto-wielding permanent members, typically favor a conciliatory approach toward North Korea and the current U.S. position prioritizes bilateral talks.