BEIJING -- A Russian envoy flew to Pyongyang on Saturday to find a way to bring North Korea and the United States to the negotiating table as Washington said the North was to blame for a lack of talks on its nuclear ambitions, Reuters reported.

Murmurs of war continued to underline the seriousness of a crisis distracting Washington from Iraq as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov prepared to fly from Beijing to Pyongyang after talks with Chinese officials on how to proceed.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il praised the Air Force's defense of the country in face of what he called moved toward war by the enemy, state media said, despite fresh a American assurance that Washington sought a diplomatic solution.

"We don't want to escalate any crisis. We don't want war," Germany's **Sueddeutsche Zeitung** newspaper quoted U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell as saying in an interview.

The comment from Kim Jong-il comment came just two days after South Korea's defense minister said his country was prepared for the "worst-case scenario" of war between the North and the United States.

South Korean President-Elect Roh Moo-hyun appeared to play down that remark, saying he saw "no need to worry" too much.

The crisis erupted in October when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted to pursuing a nuclear weapons program and it escalated as North Korea expelled International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, pulled out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and threatened to resume missile tests.

U.S. President George W. Bush, after initially taking a hard line on North Korea, with some U.S. officials hinting at the possibility of economic sanctions, changed tack this week.

But state media in the communist North -- officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- kept up their drumbeat of vituperative and often belligerent statements, accusing Washington of trickery.

"The DPRK is fully ready for both dialogue and confrontation," the official Korean Central News Agency said. "The U.S. should bear in mind that all the issues can be settled satisfactorily at the dialogue with the DPRK only when the former has a sincere attitude based on good faith."

--------No Blackmail--------- North Korea, set on edge a year ago when Bush lumped it into "axis of evil," has made clear the crisis could be solved only through talks with the United States.

It also insists on a U.S. guarantee of its security.

U.S. President George W. Bush has said his administration is willing to talk, but won't be blackmailed.

Losyukov, whose country is thought to have most influence in Pyongyang along with China, said in Beijing his mission was to try to get the two sides to the negotiating table.

"It is necessary to use strengths from all sides in order to help promote dialogue between the United States and North Korea," he said.

The United States wants to confine discussion with Pyongyang to its nuclear program. North Korea wants no such conditions.

Russia, China and South Korea's Roh have called on Washington this week to get moving on talks, but White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Pyongyang was to blame.

"We have made plain that we will talk to North Korea about dismantlement of their programs," Fleischer told reporters. "North Korea has chosen to develop nuclear weapons, to isolate itself from the world and not to talk to the United States."

Bush has expressed optimism a peaceful solution can be found.

He has stressed the United States has no intention of attacking North Korea while threatening to disarm Iraq forcibly if Baghdad refuses to give up its alleged weapons of mass destruction.

The Pentagon has sent ships, planes and thousands of troops to the Persian Gulf region in preparation for a possible war with Iraq.

-------- Outside World --------- South Korea's Roh told U.S. and European business leaders in Seoul on Friday North Korea had to be induced to open up to the outside world.

"I think North Korea is sincere about its willingness to open up and reform because they have no other choice," he said.

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who steps down next month, said "Many changes are stirring in the hearts" of North Koreans. "People who travel to Pyongyang say North Koreans know that the South is doing well and that the South has no intention of attacking the North," he told top government officials. "They have a yearning for South Korea."