Fri Oct 5, 2:39 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Talks between the top US diplomat in Myanmar and the Southeast Asian nation's ruling military junta Friday on last week's violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests were not productive, the State Department said.

"It was a not a terribly edifying meeting from our perspective," department spokesman Sean McCormack said after the talks between the US charge de affairs in Yangon Shari Villarosa and a deputy foreign minister from the Myanmar military regime, held at the junta's administrative capital Naypyidaw.

"From the sketchy readout I have of it, what she heard in private wasn't much different than what you hear from the government in public and our views on their interpretation of events is well known," he said.

It was the first high-level meeting between the two sides since last week's military bloody crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks, with at least 13 people reported killed and more than 2,000 arrested.

Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win had defended his government's crackdown at the UN General Assembly on Monday, blaming the turmoil on "political opportunists" backed by "powerful countries," which he did not name.

But the US view is that the brutal suppression against peaceful protestors are "disgraceful," McCormack said.

The meeting between Villarosa and the junta came as Myanmar's state media reported Thursday that military strongman Senior General Than Shwe would be willing to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi if she met several conditions, including ending support for sanctions on the regime.

The United States has been spearheading political, economic and diplomatic sanctions on the military regime, including a ban on investment and imports.

McCormack said there was no indication from Friday's meeting of any upcoming meaningful dialogue between the junta and Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, currently under house arrest.

"Thus far, we haven't seen any indication of that," he said.

Than Shwe reportedly made the offer to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi during his talks Tuesday with UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who was sent by the UN Security Council following the bloody crackdown.

Gambari, who has returned to New York, briefed his boss, UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon later Thursday and would also inform the 15-member UN Security Council of his discussions in Myanmar Friday.

McCormack said the United States would push for a "strong" presidential statement following the Security Council meeting.

"We believe that a strong statement is merited by the actions of the Burmese (Myanmar) government against the people," he said.

The United States on Friday pressed the UN Security Council to send its special envoy back to Myanmar as soon as possible to work with the junta towards "a peaceful transition to democracy."