U.S. calls for keeping up pressure on North Korea ahead of summit

U.S. Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament Robert Wood attends a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, April 19, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday that in the run-up to President Donald Trump's planned summit with North Korea's leader countries should continue to put financial and diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang to surrender its banned nuclear weapons.

U.S. Disarmament Ambassador Robert Wood said that the U.S. delegation would be looking for support at a two-week conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which opens next Monday in Geneva. Pyongyang announced its withdrawal in 2003 from the landmark pact prohibiting the spread of atomic weapons.