The U.S. says that dialogue with North Korea is ultimately needed to resolve tensions on the Korean Peninsula but that the appropriate context for such dialogue needs to be created.

In a daily news briefing Wednesday, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said that although the U.S. is open to dialogue, there are actions Washington wants to see the North take before bilateral or multilateral talks with Pyongyang can be held.

He also noted that North Korea has yet to take responsibility for the sinking of South Korea’s “Cheonan” naval vessel in March of last year.

Crowley said that the issue of tensions on the Korean Peninsula was addressed during Wednesday talks between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

Crowley said that both sides affirmed that the North must meet the obligations it made under a six-party denuclearization agreement in 2005.