North Korea gave signs on Thursday it was willing to halt its nuclear weapons programmes but blamed the US for lack of progress in six-party talks in China. The North, in a hastily arranged evening news conference, fell back on familiar rhetoric and said that if the US halted its ‘‘hostile policy’’ against Pyongyang, it would give up its nuclear weapons development programmes.‘‘The US is saying that it can only discuss our demands after we give up all nuclear programmes, including for peaceful purposes, as it continues with its stale demand that we give up nuclear programmes first despite our flexible position,’’ the embassy said. ‘‘It is because of this that there has not been a breakthrough in the solution of the problems.’’ US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly told reporters he could only comment on the North Korean statement after he had read it. After two days of talks in the exclusive Daioyutai state guest house in Beijing, details of North Korean proposals were murky and it was not clear what would be agreed in the next session on Friday. China has said it wants a written agreement, but on Thursday could not predict how it would turn out. Russia said earlier the North was ready to freeze its military nuclear programme, but not its ‘‘peaceful’’ one. China’s Xinhua agency quoted a North Korean official as saying it was willing to freeze all its nuclear programmes. Diplomatic sources said N Korea also continued to deny it had a uranium enrichment programme for nuclear weapons, the crux of its disagreement with the US. During Thursday’s round, South Korea, China and Russia offered N Korea energy aid in exchange for freezing its weapons. —(Reuters)
