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#7 - RW 271
RUSSIAN OFFICIAL AT KOREA TALKS URGES SIDES TO BE
FLEXIBLE, DROP PRECONDITIONS
Interfax
Beijing, 27 August: The situation remains "somewhat fragile" in the
multilateral talks on North Korea being held in Beijing, leader of the Russian
delegation Aleksandr Losyukov said in Beijing today after the first day of the
talks.
(Passage omitted)
"The multilateral format of the talks has been very useful," he
said. "If they had been bilateral or trilateral talks, they could have
already come to a dead end," he explained. "Unfortunately, the sides
are still proposing a number of preliminary conditions to each other, which, of
course, blocks the positive development of the talks," Losyukov said.
"In the first plenary session, the sides stated very extreme positions.
Some delegates believe that there could be even tougher statements made,"
he said.
Nonetheless, Losyukov said the USA and North Korea are still hoping to reach
a positive outcome. "It is hard to say to what extent this can be
achieved," he said. Commenting on contacts between the USA and North Korean
delegations in Beijing, Losyukov said: "We are hoping that such contacts
will be continued. It is difficult to say what the result will be."
Losyukov believes that "North Korea does not want to possess nuclear
weapons, but it has to think about such a possibility and is probably even
working on it in view of the considerable threat from the USA".
"The USA, in turn, is making the same complaints (about North Korea) as
before," Losyukov said. "These complaints are partially justified.
But, on the other hand, North Korea's concerns about its security are justified
as well," he said.
Losyukov believes it is possible to provide North Korea with some assurances
that it is not facing any threat from the USA. "Unfortunately, the USA has
a different view. It demands that North Korea fulfil its promises not to
continue working on its nuclear programme," he said.
(Passage omitted)
Evaluating the stances of the USA and North Korea, Losyukov said they have
"things in common, on which discussion can be based that can lead to a
positive discussion and even some common agreements".
(Passage omitted)
At the same time, Losyukov said that if the negotiating parties "are not
flexible, the positive prospects of the talks can become questionable".
Commenting on Japan's stance, Losyukov said that before the talks, there were
concerns that Japan would "put a lot of emphasis on 'kidnapped people'
(Japanese citizens kidnapped by the North Korean intelligence agencies)".
"We were afraid that this issue would block all other issues, but it did
not happen," he said. "The Japanese officials mentioned this problem
in today's plenary session, but they did it very carefully, saying they intend
to discuss the issue in a bilateral format," Losyukov said. At the same
time, Japan intends to insist that the "kidnapped people" issue should
be resolved in conjunction with the general North Korea crisis.
(Passage omitted)
Losyukov said he is also set to meet the head of the North Korean delegation.
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