The U.S. State Department on Monday evening quickly shot down prospects for a North Korean sanctions relief package submitted to the UN Security Council (UNSC) by Russia and China earlier in the day, calling it “premature.”

The development comes as a sanctions measure passed in late 2017 restricting North Korean workers abroad is set to go into full effect in less than a week, and as a top U.S. official is in South Korea awaiting a response from the North on resuming negotiations.

“Now is not the time for the UN Security Council to consider offering premature sanctions relief,” an