MOSCOW. Nov 25 (Interfax-AVN) - Changing the current format of the six- party talks on North Korea's nuclear problem would be unreasonable, said Russian deputy foreign minister Alexei Borodavkin.
"We believe that the existing six-party format is optimal. Any attempts to change it may have a negative effect on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," he told Interfax on Tuesday.
It was reported earlier that North Korea demanded that Japan be excluded from the six-party talks for refusing to meet its obligations to supply fuel oil to Pyongyang.
The parties have also not agreed yet on the return to Japan of the Japanese citizens kidnapped by the North Korean secret services.
The six-party talks currently involve Russia, the U.S., China, Japan and North and South Korea, however, the question of changing the format is being raised more and more often. In particular, it was reported that the U.S. is planning to get Australia involved in the process, possibly instead of Japan.
"We know that the U.S. is in talks with Australia about the latter's possible participation in North Korea's energy development," Akira Imamura, minister-counselor at the Japanese Embassy in Moscow, said earlier.
"But for the moment, as far as we know, there are no agreements," he added.