Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expects that his upcoming visit to Pyongyang will help him understand North Korea’s attitude to the Korean Peninsula issue, as he himself said at the Primakov Readings conference on Wednesday, TASS reports.
"This visit, just like any other, is aimed at discussing bilateral relations with our partners, as well as the situation in the region," Lavrov noted. "I received an invitation and was glad to accept it. It will be useful for me to understand our North Korean neighbors’ attitude to all the issues [concerning the Korean Peninsula]," he added.
Lavrov pointed out that Russia was involved in the six-party talks on the North Korea issue - a mechanism that was still there. "In accordance with the logic that this mechanism is based on, we support the current changes in relations between the two Korean states, as well as between Pyongyang and Washington," the Russian top diplomat pointed out. "We very much expect that the planned talks, which have been once again confirmed lately, will not result in ultimatums," he said.
According to the Russian top diplomat, the Korean Peninsula cannot be denuclearized in one move. "It will require step-by-step actions, consistency and patience," Lavrov noted. "At the final stage of the process, multilateral talks involving all the six countries will become inevitable, which is what the Russian-Chinese road map implies," he said.
"The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula should be supported by mechanisms ensuring peace and stability in Southeast Asia," the Russian foreign minister concluded.