WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Although Murphy comments marked a restatement of longstanding US demands, Trump’s statement earlier on Friday that US forces are "locked and loaded" for a strike on North Korea appear to limit options available to avert a military confrontation.
"Standing down on the pursuit of dangerous missiles and nuclear programs, in defiance of the international community, in defiance of the [UN] Security Council resolutions is what’s at stake here," Murphy said. "Now is not the opportunity for dialogue because we have not seen in North Korea a willingness to address these fundamental problems."
In recent days, Trump has been widely criticized, especially by Democrats in the US Congress, for his refusal to openly negotiate with Pyongyang.
Earlier this week, Kim Jong Un said that Pyongyang is considering an attack on Guam, which hosts multiple US military bases after Trump threatened Pyongyang with "fire and fury."
The United States has recently intensified training flights of B-1B bombers stationed at the Andersen air base in Guam after tensions rised over North Korean increased missile tests.
The tensions around North Korea have been high over the recent months and they have escalated further after the tightening of the economic sanctions against North Korea by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Saturday in response to July's launches of ballistic missiles by Pyongyang.
