MOSCOW, February 24. /TASS/. Russia is calling on the U.S. and the DPRK to change the tactics of waiting on hold for initiating a direct dialogue, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said in an interview with TASS on Saturday.

According to the Russian diplomat, many media write that a direct contact between the U.S. and the DPRK delegation could have been possible in PyeongChang. "Unfortunately, this initiative has not been used," he said. "We hope both the Americans and the North Koreans realize the dialogue does not have alternatives."

"Moscow has always been for a direct dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang," the diplomat said. "In our contacts with the ones and the others, we have been persuading the counterparts to progress from the tactics of waiting on hold to the initiative to establish a direct dialogue, taking the advantage due to the silence for the time of Games in PyeongChang."

Washington has been imposing tough sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear program, the recent sanctions were announced on Friday. The U.S. authorities say the recent restriction is aimed at not allowing possible fuel supplies to the DPRK in breach of existing sanctions.