#4 - RW 271
Russia being squeezed out of North Korea talks: Moscow press
August 28, 2003
AFP

Moscow's press lamented Thursday that Russia has largely been squeezed out of playing any meaningful role at the ongoing six-way talks in Bejing on Washington's nuclear standoff with North Korea.

The Russian foreign ministry meanwhile released a transcript of the opening speech of Moscow's top negotiator at the meeting, at which he called on all sides to be ready to hold several more rounds of negotiations that could lead to "equal security" for all nations involved.

And an unnamed North Korean source was again quoted by the IRAR-TASS news agency as saying Thursday that Pyongyang in its opening statement had stressed clearly that it had not yet developed a nuclear weapon -- a statement that both South Korean and Japanese officials deny was ever made.

Russia for the first time is taking part in multilateral talks on North Korea, a close Soviet-era ally over which it has lost much influence over the past decade.

Moscow however is still viewed as one of the few remaining allies of the hermetic Stalinist state.

But the Moscow press agreed Thursday that Russia's performance in Beijing has made little to no impact on the talks so far.

"Russia has no cards to play at the negotiations, a fact of which it was made clearly aware by our 'friends' in Pyongyang," the Kommersant business daily said.

It also said that the delegation, led by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov, was snubbed by the North Koreans.

The paper said that North Korea's delegation held three-hour bilateral talks with the Chinese hosts but refused Russia's own requests for such a meeting.

"Russian diplomats think that these talks could be qualified as a success even if only the sides agreed to meet again," the Vedomosti business daily opined.

The ITAR-TASS news agency reported that such a meeting could still be held Thursday.

Meanwhile the centrist Nezavisimaya Gazeta -- which often takes a nationalist approach to foreign affairs -- said that none of the sides involved had any serious expectation that the unprecedented talks could produce any results.

"Observers believe that it is hard to imagine that these talks can draft any sort of 'road map' for peace that could lead to any concrete steps resolving the crisis," said Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

The opening statements made by the six nations Wednesday left several of those involved confused -- in part because the speeches had to be translated into five separate languages at a time.

The Russian foreign ministry Thursday released a statement by Losyukov that suggested Moscow was trying hard not to pick sides in the dispute.

"It is important that we should be ready, if need be after the first step, to take a second and third energetic step in favor of securing a firm peace, a nuclear-free status for the Korean peninsula, stability and equal security for all nations of this region," Losyukov was quoted as saying by the ministry.

He made no specific mention of a US security "guarantee" -- a word that has repeatedly used by Russia before the meeting.

But the major confusion concerned whether North Korea had owned up to already having nuclear weapons. The United States believes Pyongyang already has one or two.

ITAR-TASS quoted a source in the North Korea presidential administration as telling reporters that Pyongyang on Wednesday "really did deny" that their country is developing nuclear weapons.

"North Korea has made it clear that it is not developing" such weapons, the Russian news agency quoted the source as saying.

"It is the United States, not Pyongyang, which is making such claims," the official was quoted as saying.

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