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Kremlin urges to back all efforts on North Korea’s denuclearization

Dmitry Peskov did not reveal all details of the upcoming talks between Putin and Kim
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov  Mikhail Metzel/TASS
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

ST.PETERSBURG, April 24. /TASS/. All international efforts aimed at solving North Korea’s nuclear issue deserve support, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"As you know, other countries are also making efforts on settlement," Peskov told reporters. "Here all efforts deserve backing if they pursue the goal of achieving denuclearization and in general a solution to the problem of two Koreas."

According to the Kremlin, the upcoming talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vladivostok on Thursday do not set the goal of encouraging Pyongyang to return to the six-party talks on denuclearization.

"No, that wording [on intention to impel North Korean leader to return to six-party format] is wrong," he said.

"The six-party talks are an international format aimed at contributing to finding solutions to ironing out the problem of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. There aren’t any other effective international mechanisms at the moment, that’s why certainly it is hardly possible to fully disregard this mechanism," Peskov said.

Peskov did not reveal all details of the upcoming talks between Putin and Kim on Thursday, which are due at around 1 p.m. local time (3:00 a.m. GMT).

The six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, which involved Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, the United States and Japan, were suspended in 2008 at North Korea’s initiative because of disagreements with Washington. When tensions escalated on the peninsula a number of countries, including Russia and South Korea, called for resuming dialogue in this format.