Amid growing concerns about deepening ties between North Korea and Russia, a senior U.S. official has assessed that the United States is providing an appropriate level of extended deterrence for South Korea against the North’s nuclear threats, highlighting the Washington Declaration as deterrence tools. 

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell presented the assessment on Monday during a forum hosted by the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington D.C.

Asked about a possible need to take more steps in addition to the Washington Declaration to strengthen nuclear deterrence on the Korean Peninsula, Campbell said the declaration has "given us what we need to work with now."

The Washington Declaration, unveiled in April last year by South Korea and the U.S., is a bilateral statement that aims to reinforce extended deterrence and respond to North Korea’s nuclear threats. 

Campbell said that the two nations just have to be purposeful on following through with the specific steps in the declaration. 

He added that the United States is quite focused on underscoring the strength of its extended deterrence to the countries of Northeast Asia, Japan and South Korea in particular.