U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly has expressed hope that Pyongyang will return to six-way nuclear talks within the year, but has ruled out the possibility of direct North Korea-U.S. talks.

During a seminar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington Tuesday, the American official said he hopes Pyongyang will promptly come back to the six-way nuclear discussions now that the U.S. presidential election is over.

Kelly admitted that the first Bush administration had failed to ease long-term tensions on the Korean Peninsula, but was quick to credit it with establishing the framework of the six-nation nuclear talks.

He also stressed that Washington would continuously seek multilateral diplomacy as the best means to resolve the North's nuclear impasse.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) said in a meeting with reporters that North Korea-U.S. bilateral talks should not be ruled out as a step to settling the nuclear standoff.