Russian FM sees no breakthrough in North Korea trip
Friday, 24 April 2009
SEOUL, April 23 (AP): Russia does not expect an imminent breakthrough in the standoff over North Korea's nuclear programme, Moscow's top diplomat was quoted as saying Thursday after talks with Pyongyang's foreign minister.
North Korea last week expelled all international monitors from its nuclear facilities, vowed to restart its atomic programme and quit disarmament negotiations, after the UN Security Council condemned its April 5 rocket launch and called for expanded sanctions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived Thursday in Pyongyang on a mission to try to persuade North Korea to rejoin the talks. Media reports have said the trip could also include a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
"We are not anticipating any breakthrough at the time being. This is a complicated issue," Lavrov told reporters after talks with North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun, according to the Interfax news agency. "But it would be wrong to yield to emotions."
The ITAR-Tass news agency carried a similar report.
North Korea says the UN rebuke was unfair because the its rocket was launching a satellite. But the US and others believe it was a test of long-range missile technology.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei said earlier this week that the North could restart its nuclear facilities within months, which would allow it to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
In Pyongyang, Lavrov also signed a culture and science exchange agreement with North Korea and paid his respects at the palace where the embalmed body of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung is displayed.
North Korea's relations with Moscow are not as close as they were during Soviet times, but remain cordial. Moscow is a participant in the six-party nuclear talks and usually avoids openly criticising the North.
"A threat of sanctions to North Korea is counterproductive," ITAR-Tass quoted Lavrov as saying, without specifying the time or place of his comments.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan warned the North of consequences if it restarts its nuclear facilities.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a hearing at the House of Representatives that Washington is ready to resume the nuclear talks and that she thinks the "strong support that we see among the parties against what North Korea is doing will eventually yield fruit."
Lavrov also plans to visit South Korea Friday after the North Korean trip.
North Korea last week expelled all international monitors from its nuclear facilities, vowed to restart its atomic programme and quit disarmament negotiations, after the UN Security Council condemned its April 5 rocket launch and called for expanded sanctions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived Thursday in Pyongyang on a mission to try to persuade North Korea to rejoin the talks. Media reports have said the trip could also include a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
"We are not anticipating any breakthrough at the time being. This is a complicated issue," Lavrov told reporters after talks with North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun, according to the Interfax news agency. "But it would be wrong to yield to emotions."
The ITAR-Tass news agency carried a similar report.
North Korea says the UN rebuke was unfair because the its rocket was launching a satellite. But the US and others believe it was a test of long-range missile technology.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei said earlier this week that the North could restart its nuclear facilities within months, which would allow it to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
In Pyongyang, Lavrov also signed a culture and science exchange agreement with North Korea and paid his respects at the palace where the embalmed body of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung is displayed.
North Korea's relations with Moscow are not as close as they were during Soviet times, but remain cordial. Moscow is a participant in the six-party nuclear talks and usually avoids openly criticising the North.
"A threat of sanctions to North Korea is counterproductive," ITAR-Tass quoted Lavrov as saying, without specifying the time or place of his comments.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan warned the North of consequences if it restarts its nuclear facilities.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a hearing at the House of Representatives that Washington is ready to resume the nuclear talks and that she thinks the "strong support that we see among the parties against what North Korea is doing will eventually yield fruit."
Lavrov also plans to visit South Korea Friday after the North Korean trip.