They must be close to finalizing their delivery system.
Pretending to sit at the table will buy them as much time as possible. This could drag on for years—all the while, they will be making incremental changes to their tech.
This will not end well. I give these talks about a 90% chance of failure.
Sounds fairly optimistic to me. I give it two chances - slim and none...when he targets the US with active nukes, he will be magnanimous in his declarations - “I won’t destroy the US if you give me what I want.” He will get a Nobel Prize for being nice nice.