North Korean state media on Friday called on the Trump administration to lift unilateral sanctions on the DPRK, arguing they showed Washington’s intention to continue its “hostile policy” towards Pyongyang despite thawing relations.

The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the DPRK ruling party, reiterated that the North sought to foster a “favorable atmosphere” for peace on the Korean peninsula, and repeated its assertion that sanctions had not prompted the ongoing diplomatic thaw.

“The sanctions of the U.S. and its followers have never created it,” the Rodong, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), said