Russia expects little from North Korea talks

Moscow, Jan 31: The head of Russia's nuclear delegation said today he did not expect a fresh round of six-way talks on North Korea's atomic programme to achieve any concrete results.

The talks grouping both Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China are due to take place on February 8 in Beijing. The last round of talks in December ended in no result.

''I think there is almost no chance of finding concrete, significant agreements during these talks,'' Alexander Losyukov, also a deputy foreign minister, told Interfax news agency.

The December round took place two months after Pyongyang raised the stakes by holding its first nuclear test. Talks were also bogged down over Pyongyang's complaints about a US financial crackdown that led to Macau freezing its accounts.

''Those who are least likely to come up with any agreements are all of a sudden very optimistic ahead of the talks,'' Losyukov said. ''I am afraid that the expectations of the US and the North Korean sides might not be exactly the same.'' Losyukov said, however, that participants should use the meeting to consider drawing up a specific road-map of settling the matter during future sessions.

''We have some of our own ideas and practical suggestions on this and we are ready to share that with our partners,'' Losyukov was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.

Reuters

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