North Korea claims nuclear talks with U.S. have broken down – NBC News

North Korea claims that its negotiations with the United States over its nuclear weapons program broke down on Saturday, although the U.S. sees it differently.

This latest turn of events comes after North Korea announced earlier this week that it would resume its talks with the United States on its nuclear program, months after negotiations between the two countries collapsed when Pyongyang said American demands were unreasonable.

But North Korea’s chief negotiator said after hours of talks Saturday in Stockholm that the discussions “have not fulfilled our expectation and finally broke up.”

“The breakup of the negotiation without any outcome is due to the fact that the U.S. would not give up their old viewpoint and attitude,” North Korean diplomat Kim Myong Gil said.

“The U.S. raised expectations by offering suggestions like flexible approaches, new methods and creative solutions, but they have disappointed us greatly and dampened our enthusiasm for negotiations by bringing nothing to the negotiation table,” he added.

The State Department rejected this characterization of the talks, saying in a statement by spokesperson Morgan Ortagus that North Korea’s comments “do not reflect the content or the spirit of today’s 8 1/2 hour discussion.”

“The U.S. brought creative ideas and had good discussions” with its North Korean counterparts, Ortagus said.

He added that the U.S. has already accepted an invitation from Sweden to return to Stockholm in two weeks to continue the negotiations.