U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks with his Russian counterpart to discuss cooperation on various issues including North Korea, Iran and Venezuela.

Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met for three hours on Tuesday in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi in Russia. 

The two sides demonstrated gaps in their views on how to achieve the denuclearization of North Korea, with Washington stressing continued sanctions and Moscow emphasizing the need to provide security guarantees.

At a joint news conference after the meeting, Secretary Pompeo stressed that full implementation of the UN sanctions must continue until the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea is achieved. He added Washington and Moscow have been working very closely together on the matter in very productive fashions.

Lavrov said Russia is promoting and prepared to support dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, but noted that the North expects concessions from the U.S.

He added that the North Korean leadership expects certain guarantees of security for their country reciprocated by denuclearization, and that denuclearization should be expanded over the entire Korean Peninsula.

[Photo : YONHAP News]