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Russia, China urge early resumption of Korean dialog — ministry

The Russian Foreign Ministry says it is important to scale down military-political tension on the peninsula

MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. Russia and China have called for an early restart of a dialogue between North Korea and South Korea, which is the only possible path for their reconciliation, a commentary of the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

The commentary came after a fourth round of Russian-Chinese dialog on security in Northeast Asia held on Thursday. The Russian delegation to the talks was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov, and the Chinese - by Kong Xuanyou, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"Both sides emphasized the importance of giving a boost to efforts towards achieving nuclear settlement on the Korean peninsula in a peaceful political-diplomatic manner," the ministry said.

"Uniform understanding was reached that six-way talks are the optimal format having no alternative to reach this goal," it went on.

Among the necessary preconditions for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, it mentioned "scaling down of military-political tension on the peninsula, including reduction of the scale of military exercises held there, establishment of a climate of trust between the involved sides," the ministry said.

Moscow and Beijing "urged an early resumption of an inter-Korean dialog, which is the only possible way for achieving reconciliation between the South and the North, and enhancement of a general climate on the Korean peninsula," it said.