The United States is open to talks with North Korea in order to convey U.S. policy regarding Pyongyang’s nuclear program, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Wednesday, noting that such talks would not equate negotiations, Reuters reported.

Pence, speaking in an interview with the Axios news media outlet, said the United States would continue to intensify diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea over its nuclear ambitions, but that sanctions would not be lifted until its nuclear program was abandoned.