Korean Central News Agency reported that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that “the situation on the Korean peninsula and the region is now at a standstill and has reached a critical point”. While placing the onus on the US Chairman Kim declared that peace in the Korean peninsula would depend entirely on Washington. He also warned the situation “may return to its original state as the US took an unilateral attitude in bad faith” during recent talks. Negotiations between the two countries have broken down after an unsuccessful summit in Vietnam in February, with no deal reached about North Korea’s nuclear weapons. Those talks reportedly stalled over North Korea’s demand for full economic sanctions relief in return for some denuclearisation commitments – a deal the US was not willing to make.