Moscow optimistic on N Korean nuke talks

Moscow, Jan 30 (UNI) Deputy Foreign Minister and head of Russian delegation at the six-party talks, on North Korean nuclear problems, Alexander Losyukov today said his delegation was heading for Beijing for a new round of negotiations with ''cautious optimism.'' ''We are going to Beijing next week with cautious optimism,'' Losyukov RIA Novosti news agency, stressing that progress in the negotiations would depend on the participants' willingness to meet each other halfway.

''The agreement to hold a new round of six-party talks, shows that there are positive signs of progress in the positions of some participants,'' he pointed out.

The third stage of the fifth round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme will resume in Beijing on February 8.

The negotiations involving the two Koreas, Russia, China, Japan and the United States, were launched in 2003 to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions.

The previous round of the talks resumed in December 2006, following a 13-month standoff, but ended without result. At a symbolic ceremony, the six participating delegations made a joint statement reiterating their commitment to further negotiations in the same format.

Pyongyang earlier insisted that the possibility of ending its nuclear programme can only be discussed once financial sanctions are lifted, but reportedly agreed to take steps towards nuclear disarmament following talks between North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan and US envoy Christopher Hill in Berlin, raising hopes for progress and a quick resumption of the talks.

The US and North Korea are currently holding closed consultations in Beijing on the issue of financial sanctions in an attempt to remove the major stumbling bloc in the negotiation process, while South Korea's top nuclear negotiator, Chun Yung-woo, is planning to visit Moscow on January 31 ahead of the six-party talks, the agency reported Tuesday.

UNI