MOSCOW. Nov 10 (Interfax) - Moscow is alarmed by North Korea's nuclear ambitions, but this problem needs to be resolved only through negotiations, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
"This problem presents a systemic challenge to the international nonproliferation regime. Despite the fact that primary attention has often been paid to Iran, I should note that Tehran, unlike Pyongyang, did not proclaim itself a nuclear power and did not test nuclear weapons, not to mention threaten their use," Medvedev said in an interview with Korean media outlets in the run-up to his official visit to Seoul.
"We are alarmed that North Korea's nuclear ambitions are producing military-political tensions in Northeast Asia, in the near vicinity of Russia's eastern boundaries," he said.
"Not to mention that the North Korean nuclear range is located only slightly more than 100 kilometers away from our territory," he said.
At the same time, Moscow "is still convinced that the problem can be solved only by political-diplomatic methods through strengthening the Non-Proliferation Treaty regime," he said.
Medvedev welcomed ongoing efforts to resume the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula denuclearization.
In particular, he praised efforts being made by the Chinese chairmanship and mentioned South Korea's and U.S. proposals.
"Certainly, Russia is not standing aside. We are actively cooperating with all our partners within the six-party format and are chairing the Northeast Asia Peace and Security Mechanism Working Group," he said.