Apr. six-party ministerial talks on N. Korea unlikely - FM
05/04/2007 15:47 MOSCOW, April 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's deputy foreign minister Alexander Losyukov said Thursday he doubted whether an expected ministerial meeting as part of the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program could take place in April.
"It will be virtually impossible, and North Korea and China are in agreement," Losyukov said.
The Russian diplomat is heading Russia's delegation at the six-nation talks in Beijing with U.S., North and South Korean, Chinese and Japanese diplomats attending.
At the fifth round of talks on February 13 the parties agreed to shut and seal North Korea's nuclear reactor under international control and said a ministerial meeting could be held in April.
"The process is stalled, and we cannot expect North Korea to carry out initial nuclear disarmament, since the deadline is in 10 days," there is just no time for IAEA inspectors to even launch a check, Losyukov said.
"We believe the ministerial meeting should take place after completion of first-stage measures so that we can identify further steps and move on," the Russian diplomat said.
In March the six-nation talks were suspended due to North Korea's refusal to discuss its nuclear program until Pyongyang received $25 million, frozen by U.S. sanctions in Macao's Banco Delta Asia in China.
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