Thursday, 4 June 2009
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said he is ready to support economic sanctions to deter North Korea's nuclear program, and will discuss Pyongyang's nuclear test with his U.S. counterpart.
The UN Security Council denounced Pyongyang's May 25 nuclear test as a violation of Resolution 1718 and the international non-proliferation regime, and is currently drafting a resolution that could impose sanctions against the North, already under a number of UN sanctions over its first nuclear test, carried out in 2006.
"We need to think about measures to curb those programs that are being conducted," Medvdev said in an interview with the U.S. television network CNBC broadcast on Wednesday night.
"I am ready to discuss the issue during the meeting with the U.S. President [Barack Obama] to be held in Moscow in July, and we will also communicate with him through other formats," the Russian leader said.
Medvedev reiterated Russia's stance on Pyongyang's nuclear test and missile launches last week, calling them "measures that disrupt international security."
"This is our shared concern. And we must make a decision on this," he said.
Earlier this week, Russia's envoy to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, urged the international community to give a "strong" response to North Korea's nuclear test.
However, he said the resolution "will not aim to impose any kind of economic embargo on North Korea."
Medvedev said any expansion of the nuclear club must be prevented, and expressed hope that the North Korean authorities would return to the negotiating table, as "there is no other solution to the problem."
The six-nation talks involving North and South Korea, Russia, Japan, China and the United States, ended in deadlock last December over a U.S. demand that nuclear inspectors be allowed to take samples out of the country from North Korean facilities for further analysis.
