WASHINGTON — Stepping up his effort to exert diplomatic pressure on North Korea, President Bush consulted by telephone Thursday with his Russian and Chinese counterparts, while diplomats at the United Nations searched for a way to address Pyongyang's missile tests and its threat to launch more.
As the U.N. Security Council met for a second day on the issue, the Bush administration sought to damp expectation of speedy action.
The president told reporters that "diplomacy takes a while," and his spokesman, urging patience, said officials were not conducting "diplomacy with an egg timer."
Despite signs of disagreement at the Security Council, Bush sought what he described as a unified approach to keep the North Korean leadership in isolation after it test-fired seven missiles Wednesday.
In talking to Russia and China, Bush was appealing to the two nations that might pose the most direct obstacle to proposals for concrete penalties against North Korea.
China also urged caution. After President Hu Jintao spoke with Bush, the Chinese government said in a statement that "under the current complicated circumstances, it is extremely necessary to maintain calm and restraint."
Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, in a live public conference conducted over the Internet, said that threatening North Korea would be counterproductive. He criticized the missile tests but said they "should not lead to such emotions that would drown out common sense."
"We have to create an atmosphere that will lead to compromise," Putin said in the broadcast on a BBC website and a Russian site.
Although the leaders urged patience, each is faced with limited options, given the restricted trade and diplomatic ties to North Korea. Bush has sought to further isolate leader Kim Jong Il and to encourage more moderate behavior by the Pyongyang regime, with no sign that his approach has had an effect.
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said "many tools" were available to the U.S. and its partners.
"But I'm not going to lay out for you the full options," he said, in keeping with the administration's refusal to discuss avenues other than diplomacy.
Bush said Thursday night that the Pentagon's rudimentary missile defense system, based in Alaska and California, would have been used if missiles threatened U.S. territory.
