U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Monday struck a positive note on the upcoming negotiations with North Korea, saying there were numerous reasons to be optimistic.

Mattis’s comments come after North Korea announced a moratorium on its nuclear and ballistic missile tests on Friday.

“Right now, I think there is a lot of reasons for optimism that the negotiations will be fruitful, and we’ll see,” Mattis told reporters during a press conference with the Thai defense minister.

The Secretary of Defense’s comments seemed more positive than those from the White House on Monday, with press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying