Potential of six-party talks should be considered during North Korea, US Summit: Russian foreign minister

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on Monday, advocated that the key takeaways of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue should be considered during the upcoming North Korea and the United States summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.

He also said that he is expecting some progress in relations between the US and North Korea during the talks.

"The situation in Northeast Asia is not easy, primarily because of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, but as far as long-term stability goes, the goal is to establish a peace and security mechanism in the region," TASS quoted Lavrov as saying.

"This is one of the goals that were agreed on during the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue when the talks were still underway. They are stalled now but their potential should be taken into account," the Russian top diplomat added.

 

The talks which were hosted by China in Beijing from 2003 to 2009, were multilateral negotiation attended by China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, and the United States for the purpose of dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear program.

While talking about Russian-Chinese roadmap on resolving the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, the foreign minister said, "The roadmap suggests three stages: first, to build trust and refrain from provocations such as nuclear and missile tests in North Korea and large-scale navy and air force drills involving the US and South Korea."

The second summit, slated to be held in Hanoi on February 27 and 28, comes after the first landmark US-North Korea summit was held in Singapore in June last year.

North Korea had agreed to completely denuclearise during the first meeting - a move which was hailed as a major stride by the international community. However, ties between the United States and Pyongyang hit a roadblock over ease of sanctions, where North Korea sought relief in economic sanctions as recognition of the steps taken towards denuclearisation.

The United States has, until now, reinforced that relief in sanctions would only be given after North Korea carries out complete denuclearisation.

Both the sides aim at working towards the concretisation of steps for a peaceful Korean Peninsula, including complete denuclearisation, when Kim sits down with Trump in Hanoi this week.