Moscow and Tokyo are hailing the expected trilateral meeting among the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States and China in Beijing next week, Interfax reported Friday.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and his Japanese counterpart Yoriko Kawaguchi made the remarks in a telephone conversation Friday, stressing the special importance of finding a political and diplomatic resolution to the problems on the Korean Peninsula, Interfax quoted a Russian Foreign Ministry release as saying.
Russia on Monday voiced its willingness to take part in multilateral talks after DPRK's softened stance on the crisis, which was considered an abrupt shift from its policy of pressing for direct Washington-Pyongyang talks.
Russia favors resolving the problem "either through bilateral talks between Washington and Pyongyang or through closed multilateral consultations," a high-ranking diplomatic source in Moscow told Interfax on Thursday.
(Xinhua News Agency April 19, 2003)
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