N Korea thanks RF for its effort to resume sextet talks

BALI ISLAND, July 22 (Itar-Tass) - Russia welcomes North Korea's
readiness to resume the sextet talks without preliminary conditions,
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said following his meeting with
the DPRK's Foreign Minister Pak Ui-Chun on the fields of the Russia-ASEAN
ministerial meeting on Friday.
"To a big extent the meeting was devoted to the nuclear problem of the
Korean Peninsula," Lavrov said. "We welcomed Pyongyang's readiness to
resume participation in the sextet talks without preliminary conditions."
Lavrov stressed that the North Korean side had thanked Russia for the
efforts it had undertaken while contacting the sextet's counterparts to
achieve resumption of the negotiation process.
The sextet talks, featuring Russia, China, the USA, Japan and both
Koreas and which are devoted to the Korean Peninsula's nuclear problem,
have been going on with long termination periods in Beijing from August
27, 2003. Pyongyang terminated the sixth round on September 30, 2007.
Russia's foreign minister said that besides meeting with the DPRK'S
counterpart he had meetings with foreign ministers of Australia, Vietnam
and China.
Lavrov is in Indonesia, where he is participating in the annual ASEAN
form on security in the Asia-Pacific Region.
In the framework of the meeting of foreign ministers of Russia and the
ASEAN ten, they discuss fulfilment of agreements of the Russia-ASEAN
second bilateral summit.
"We have stated that the work continues intensively," Lavrov said.
"ASEAN countries are highly interested in development of cooperation with
Russia in energy, peaceful use of nuclear energy, and transport logistics
systems."
"The plans are serious," he added.