Russian Expert: US-NKorea Negotiations 'Deteriorating'

A Russian scholar on Asian affairs says North Korea "may soon lose hope that it is possible to deal with the U.S. at all" in denuclearization.

"There is no much hope for an early conclusion of talks, let alone their success," Georgy Toloraya, the East Asia director of the Institute of Economics at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told the Russian news service Tass.

He added he would not be surprised "if the parties returned to confrontation in a while, before the year ends."

"North Korea has done a lot … the destruction of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site and some facilities at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, the return of U.S. military personnel’s remains, as well as the cessation of anti-U.S. rhetoric in the North Korean media. At the same time, the United States has done nearly nothing," Toloraya said.

"North Koreans must find contradictions between the head of state’s instructions and the steps taken by the State Department and Defense Department rather strange. Pyongyang may soon lose hope that it is possible to deal with the U.S. at all …

"The situation surrounding the denuclearization process and the very negotiating process between the US and North Korea has been deteriorating."

In June, President Donald Trump held a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea.

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