Swiss say ready to facilitate U.S.-North Korea talks

Neutral Switzerland is ready to facilitate talks between North Korea and the United States, the Swiss foreign ministry said on Friday.

The offer came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was prepared to meet North Korea's Kim Jong Un for talks to resolve a standoff over the North's nuclear weapons. It would be the first face-to-face encounter between the two countries' leaders.

"Switzerland is in contact with all the parties involved," the ministry said in a statement. "The good offices Switzerland can provide are well known. It is up to the parties involved to decide if, when and where the talks will be held."

Then-President Doris Leuthard offered in September to mediate in the U.S.-North Korea dispute, noting that Switzerland had a long history of neutral and discreet diplomacy.

North Korea and the United States reached a framework agreement in Geneva in 1994 to freeze construction of the North's nuclear reactors, but that accord unraveled in 2003.