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Russia: Chance to resume six-party talks still exists

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-16 19:09

MOSCOW - The chance to resume six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula still exists, the Interfax news agency reported, citing Russian Foreign Ministry Special Ambassador Grigory Logvinov.

"One way or another, the negotiating process should be preserved. We believe there is a chance to return to the negotiating table, as nobody has burned the bridges, and the door has not been shut," said Logvinov on Thursday.

Related readings:  Russia calls on DPRK to return to negotiating table  Russia confirms DPRK satellite launch  DPRK to restart nuclear reactor  US urges DPRK not to quit talks

Meanwhile, Moscow is disappointed that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has decided to expel inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Logvinov.

"Naturally, we are disappointed although this decision is not surprising -- the DPRK has warned (the world) about this possibility," he said, adding that "the situation should not be dramatized though."

The DPRK on Tuesday threatened to withdraw from the six-party talks and declared the intention to resume its nuclear program, after the U.N. Security Council adopted a presidential statement on its April 5 rocket launch.

Later in the day, the IAEA inspectors in the DPRK were asked to leave the country as soon as possible.

The UNSC presidential statement said the DPRK's launching activity was "in contravention of Security Council resolution 1718", and urged early resumption of the six-party talks.

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.