North Korea views its nuclear weapons as “essential” but may be willing to trade some of them for sanctions relief and other benefits, U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick for the country’s top intelligence job said in Congressional testimony made public on Tuesday.

The comments, from U.S. Representative John L. Ratcliffe — nominated to become the next U.S. Director of National Intelligence — come as diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang has been stalled for months over the fate of the North’s nuclear weapons program and sanctions relief.

In written testimony, Ratcliffe echoed the Trump administration’s optimistic rhetoricover the last year