North Korea made it clear that it has no plans to enter into a dialogue with the U.S. or South Korea especially in regards to talks on denuclearization.

So the South is trying a new route by asking Russia, an ally to the North, to help put an end to the communist nation’s nuclear weapons development efforts.

With foreign ministers from around the world gathering in Malaysia this week for conferences held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASAN), South Korea’s Yun Byung-se asked Russia’s Sergey Lavrov directly for assistance.

“Our minister assessed Russia’s constructive role in the Iranian nuclear issue and asked for Russia’s contributions to keep that momentum and resolve the North Korea nuclear issue,” an official who wished to remain anonymous told Yonhap News Agency.

The request was made based on the precedent set by the Iran Nuclear Deal, which saw six world powers including Russia reach an agreement for economic sanctions to be lifted on Iran given that the country would stop trying to obtain nuclear weapons via uranium enrichment.

North Korea scoffed at the comparisons being made after the deal was completed and said that its situation was entirely different.

Russia has yet to comment on how it plans to handle the request by South Korea.