The top nuclear envoys of the United States and Russia discussed continued efforts to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

The U.S. State Department told Yonhap that on Wednesday, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov spoke on the phone for talks as part of continued U.S.-Russia discussions on their shared goal of the denuclearization of North Korea.

The department said the two sides discussed the need to maintain the full implementation and enforcement of existing sanctions until the final, fully verified denuclearization of the North is achieved. 

Russia's TASS news agency quoted the Russian foreign ministry as saying the two discussed "unfolding scenarios in the sub-region" and ways to further promote the political and diplomatic process.