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Russia calls on DPRK to return to negotiating table

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-14 18:48

MOSCOW - Russia on Tuesday called on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to return to the negotiating table.

"We call on the DPRK to respect the UN Security Council Resolution 1718 and provisions of the joint statement by China, Japan, DPRK, Russia, South Korea and the United States dated September 19, 2005, and return to the negotiating table in the interests of the denuclearizing the Korean peninsula and finding secure peaceful means to ensure security in Northeastern Asia," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

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Russia is ready to "assist the achievement of these goals in every possible manner," the Interfax news agency reported, citing the statement.

"The Russian side regrets that in response to the lawful and balanced reaction of the UN Security Council Pyongyang announced its withdrawal from the six-party talks and the resumption of its nuclear program," the statement said.

Russia supports the presidential statement adopted by the UN Security Council on Monday, which is the best solution under current circumstances, it said.

Pyongyang said on Tuesday it will withdraw from the six-party talks and restore the nuclear facilities that have been under disablement process, in response to a UN Security Council presidential statement on its recent rocket launch.

The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a non-binding presidential statement, saying the April 5 launch by the DPRK is "in contravention of Security Council resolution 1718."

It urged the DPRK to "comply fully with its obligations" under resolution 1718, which was adopted in 2006, and demanded that the country "not conduct any further launch."

The six-party talks, a platform designed to engage the DPRK, South Korea, the United States, Russia, Japan and China in talks on the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, was first held in Beijing in August, 2003, and has made tangible progress on the issue in the following years.