MOSCOW, December 1 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia calls on Pyongyang to declare a moratorium on any type of nuclear works, including uranium enrichment, and to have experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspect an uranium enrichment facility at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The ministry’s comment came after “North Korea’s statement about the accelerated construction of a light-water reactor and the increased production of low-enriched uranium to serve as fuel for this reactor.”
“North Korea’s persistent effort to implement uranium programs cannot but arouse serious concern,” the Russian foreign ministry said. “We have never challenged North Korea’s sovereign right to develop peaceful nuclear energy programs. But we cannot accept the fact that this right is being realized outside the frames of generally accepted non-proliferation regimes that run counter to corresponding resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on “North Korean partners not to turn a deaf ear to the opinion of the world community expressed in U.N. Security Council resolutions number 1718 and 1874, and to begin practical steps to get back to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and IAEA guarantee regime, and, as first step in this direction, to declare a moratorium on all types of nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment, and to invite IAEA experts to inspect the uranium enrichment facility at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center.”
“This is the way to create favorable conditions to re-launch six-lateral talks on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, to promote peace and stability in Northeastern Asia,” the ministry stressed.