North Korea says US offered to resume nuclear talks in December

North Korea said the U.S. has offered to resume nuclear talks with the country in December as the end-of-the-year deadline for negotiations approaches, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

Kim Myong Gil did not say whether North Korea would accept the U.S.’s proposal to continue negotiations. He added that North Korea was no longer interested in participating in the talks if the U.S. designs them to buy time rather than come up with tangible solutions, according to the AP.

{mosads}Back in April, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set a deadline for the end of the year to reach a denuclearization deal with the U.S., but negotiations have stalled for months. The stall has further increased tensions in North Korea’s relationships with both South Korea and the United States.

Negotiations for a denuclearization deal first crumbled in February in Vietnam after the U.S. refused to lift sanctions for North Korea to partially relinquish its nuclear weapons. Talks also fell apart last month, after North Korea called the U.S. proposals for negotiations “sickening.”