A top U.S. government official has accused North Korea of deliberately stalling the six-party talks on its nuclear weapons programs.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told reporters in Tokyo Tuesday that North Korea seems to have no interest in holding the multilateral discussions before the U.S presidential election, pointing out that there are only 22 days left until the poll.

He said the communist state's apparent ploy to delay the talks in such a manner was a "miscalculation."

In an interview with Japanese public broadcaster NHK, Armitage said President George W. Bush was patient on the North's nuclear matter and that the United States would not rush to take the issue to the U.N. Security Council.

Earlier on Monday, Pyongyang blamed the U.S. for the stalemate and warned it would use a "war deterrent force" if Washington brought the nuclear dispute before the top U.N. decision-making body.

Armitage is in Tokyo for a two-day visit to attend an international donors' conference on Iraq.