Norwegian Ambassador Ingrid Ofstad threatened an aid cutoff if Nepal’s internal political situation does not improve.

“If it (political deterioration) continues for a long time, it can hardly be said democratic values are developing. Aid could be suspended,” she told reporters Tuesday. But she parried a question: ” What will prompt an aid cutoff?” “We are assessing the situation very closely,” she said.

Norway put Nepal on a priority list of aid recipient countries in 1996. She put peace talks with Maoists and improvement of the democratic climate in Nepal as conditionalities for continued Norwegian aid.

“5000 deaths are enough to start a peace process,” she said. Norway was willing to act as a “facilitator” and again she did not specify if warring sides in Nepal requested Oslo to be one. “Movement for peace must be comprehensive,” she said.

She is the first representative of a donor country directly calling for peace talks between the government and Maoists.