MOSCOW: Moscow sees no alternative to the six-party talks to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said Saturday, after Pyongyang and Seoul voiced readiness to seek reconciliation.
“Russian assistance to the Korean settlement will be implemented not only in work with partners in bilateral formats, but also through the most active participation in collective efforts,” Interfax news agency quoted Morgulov as saying.
The six-party talks mechanism involves China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
Launched in 2003, the talks were suspended in December 2008.
However, tensions on and around the peninsula began easing dramatically since the beginning of 2018, leading to a historic summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un on Friday.
Moon and Kim signed a joint declaration confirming a common goal of complete denuclearization of the peninsula while agreeing to multilateral talks to turn the current armistice agreement between the two Koreas into a peace treaty.
Morgulov said Russia is pleased that the settlement process is developing in line with the roadmap proposed by Moscow and Beijing.
The roadmap suggests that the DPRK suspend its nuclear and missile tests and the United States and South Korea stop their annual joint military drills on the peninsula. It also proposes the establishment of a peace mechanism while denuclearization is being achieved as a dual-track approach.
“We have no doubt that it will be advisable to continue to move along the roadmap,” Morgulov said.