Date for six-party talks uncertain: Russian official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 15, 2004

Date for six-party talks uncertain: Russian official

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said Wednesday that it is still too early to decide a date for a second round of six-party talks on Korean nuclear issue.

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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said Wednesday that it is still too early to decide a date for a second round of six-party talks on Korean nuclear issue.

"Chances for holding the negotiations in January are diminishing," Losyukov was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

Russia has positively valued the readiness of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to freeze its nuclear program inreturn for US financial assistance, Losyukov said, stressing that discussions should concern not only the freezing, but also an entire set of measures.

The DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency on Jan. 6 said that, Pyongyang is set to refrain from the test and production of nuclear weapons and stop even operating nuclear power industry fora peaceful purpose as first-phase measures of its package solution,which was praised by Losyukov as "an important and serious step."

"At present, the focus should be shifted to the final written document for the second round of talks, then stages or separate steps can be addressed on its basis," Losyukov proposed.

He noted that the current final document for further talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsular only exists in the formof proposals.

"Although slowly, the work is progressing," Losyukov said. "I believe there are certain prospects for coordinating the document before the second round."

The first round of negotiations on the Korean nuclear issue washeld in Beijing in late August with the participation of representatives from the DPRK, South Korea, Russia, China, the United States and Japan. Diplomatic efforts are underway to set a date for the next round of such talks.

Russia has been striving for an early convening of the second round of negotiations among the six parties over the nuclear dispute.

Source: Xinhua

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