MOSCOW, August 5 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia expects the upcoming Moscow visit of South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Kim Sung-hwan to help re-launch the six-nation negotiations on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The visit is due on August 7-9, and negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will take place on August 8.
Kim will meet with First Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Vladimir Bulavin, Chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachyov and Cochairman of the Russian-South Korean Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin.
The sides will consider a possibility to continue negotiations between North Korea, South Korea, Russia, China, the United States and Japan. “It is important not only to resume the six-nation process but also to ensure the sustainable progress towards the main goal – denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Friday. “We welcome the resumed dialog between North and South Koreas and North Korea and the United States.”
The diplomat urged the sides to display “maximal responsibility and far-sightedness, to abstain from any steps that may cause a new outbreak of confrontations, and work on constructive interaction.”
Moscow proposes economic projects involving Russia, North and South Koreas for giving a start to the mutually beneficial economic cooperation in the region. The Russian and South Korean foreign ministers will discuss high tech cooperation with an emphasis on commercialization of innovations.
Russia views the upcoming visit “as an important phase of the bilateral political dialog, which is bound to strengthen mutual understanding in the spirit of strategic partnership,” Lukashevich said.