Moscow is satisfied with the progress made at the six-party talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in 2007, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said after negotiations with top U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill on Friday.
"We are satisfied with last year's progress, although we have encountered certain problems," Losyukov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.
"We hope that measures declared at the second round of the six-nation negotiations in 2007 will eventually be implemented," he said.
"Russia is ready to negotiate. We are ready to go to Beijing and discuss joint measures of further denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, as well as exchange information about the current state of negotiations," he said.
Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Christopher Hill arrived in Moscow on Friday for consultations with Russian diplomats over the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the resumption of the six-party nuclear talks.
Hill's tours came after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) missed the deadline to list all its nuclear programs by the end of 2007. He had visited Japan, the Republic of Korea and China before arriving in Moscow.
Hill said upon his arrival that they had discussed ways to boost the denuclearization process. The next meeting of heads of six delegations depends on China to a large extent, he said.
The negotiations should be carried on to the end, although they are not easy, Hill said in comments on his visits to four states involved in the negotiations.
There is no deadline for Pyongyang's comprehensive declaration of nuclear program, Hill said. However, South Korea will have a new government after Feb. 25, and it is desirable to have the declaration by the end of February, he said.
According to agreements reached in October, 2007 at the six-party talks, the DPRK will disable its key nuclear facilities at the Yongbyon complex, and declare all other nuclear programs by the end of the year.
Source: Xinhua
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