MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia supports the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) call for North Korea to resume cooperation by reinstalling monitoring equipment at its nuclear facilities and allowing IAEA inspectors to enter the country again.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov made this statement at a news conference following talks with IAEA Director General Mohammad ElBaradei in Moscow on Wednesday.
Discussing problems surrounding North Korea, the negotiators "favored the strict observance of nonproliferation regimes and agreements as a key condition for normalizing the situation on the Korean Peninsula," Ivanov said.
"We have also reaffirmed the need to engage the full arsenal of diplomatic methods in bilateral and multilateral formats, respecting the legitimate interests of all parties involved," the Russian minister said.
In this context, "Russia confirmed its principled support for the strict observance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by all of its signatories and the efforts made by the IAEA to strengthen the role of this treaty," he said.