North Korea Says Nuclear Talks With US Have Broken Down, Blames Washington

North Korea negotiator on Saturday said that nuclear talks with the United States have broken down once again and blamed Washington for it, reported news agency AFP. North Korea's Kim Myong Gil and Stephen Biegun, the special envoy of US President Donald Trump, had gathered for new nuclear talks in Stockholm after months of deadlock and Pyongyang's ballistic missile test this week.

The failure of talks has crashed all the hopes of breaking a stalemate between the two countries. The last summit between US President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had also met with an abrupt ending.

The talks were requested by Britain, France and Germany, as the European powers push for the world body to keep up pressure on Pyongyang which is under heavy US and UN sanctions over its weapons program.

Washington had also been eagerly awaiting a resumption of the dialogue, which has virtually stalled after a Hanoi meeting in late February between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

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North Korea frequently couples diplomatic overtures with military moves as a way of maintaining pressure on negotiating partners, analysts say, and many believe this weapons system gives it added leverage. Pyongyang tested what it called a "super-large" rocket on Wednesday just hours after it said it was willing to resume working-level talks with Washington.

North Korea is banned from ballistic missile launches by Security Council resolutions. It is also under three sets of UN sanctions adopted in 2017 in an effort to force it to give up its nuclear and ballistic weapons programmes. They limit North Korea's oil imports and impose bans linked to its exports of coal, fish and textiles.

Since the US-North Korea talks began, Russia and China have been calling for the UN to start lifting sanctions so as to create momentum towards the North's denuclearisation. But the United States has refused.

(With PTI inputs)