In news that likely stands John Bolton’s mustache on end, the U.S. has announced that it plans to hold direct — not mediated — talks with North Korea in an attempt to get Pyongyang back into the multilateral discussions aimed at ending its nuclear program.

The BBC:

The US says it would hold direct talks with North Korea to persuade it to return to stalled multilateral talks on ending its nuclear programme.

A spokesman for the US state department said that there had been no decision on when such talks might take place.

Philip Crowley insisted the move was not a policy shift and talks would take place within “the six-party process”.

North Korea pulled out of multilateral talks in April after international criticism following a rocket launch.

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