North Korean President Kim Jong-Il laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier on Moscow's Red Square Saturday at the start of a scheduled day-long session of talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Russian media reported.

Kim, who arrived in Moscow by train late Friday, is expected to sign a joint declaration with Putin setting out a common position on strategic security issues, relating notably to US plans to build a missile defence shield.

The presidents were also expected to discuss a series of joint projects, implementation of which would depend on how successful the talks were, deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said, as quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency.

The agency quoted Kim as saying on the eve of his arrival that the development of relations between Russia and North Korea had an important role to play in security peace and security in Asia and worldwide.

"The prospects for the development of friendly relations between the Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea and the Russian Federation are very good. ... In the 21st century, these relations will develop perfectly due to their governments' and peoples' joint efforts," he told ITAR-TASS.

The Kim made no public statement during his nine-day train trip across Russia, undertaken amid reports that he was afraid of flying.

Officials in the presidential administration said the talks could also focus on cooperation Moscow and Pyongyang in the peaceful use of atomic energy, an area which has fallen into abeyance since the Soviet era, and on closer ties between North and South Korea, a development that Moscow favours, ITAR-TASS said.

Kremlin deputy administrative chief Sergei Prikhodko, quoted by NTV television, stressed that Moscow "will not be making concessions for free on ideological grounds."

On Sunday Kim is to visit Russia's space mission control centre and the Khrunichev Space Centre in the Moscow suburbs where he will be able inspect an exact copy of the orbital space station Mir, before travelling on to Saint Petersburg.

He is due to return to Moscow on Tuesday and attend a series of cultural events on Wednesday before starting the return journey to Pyongyang that evening.

(Chinadaily.com.cn 08/04/2001)