MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday he was deeply worried by North Korea's capacity to enrich uranium which could be used to make nuclear weapons.
During a meeting with his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-Chun, "Lavrov expressed his deep concern about information about the industrial uranium enrichment capability at Yongbyon," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Yongbyon has been for decades at the heart of North Korea's drive for nuclear weapons, with a now-ageing gas graphite reactor producing enough plutonium for possibly six to eight bombs.
Lavrov "called on North Korea to comply with UN Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874," said the statement.
Resolution 1874, which was adopted unanimously by the Security Council on June 12, 2009, imposes economic and trade sanctions on North Korea for failing to comply with resolution 1718 over its nuclear programme.
Moscow also called for a resumption of six-party talks on the programme.
"The Russian side noted that it was indispensable to relaunch the process of six-party talks on the North Korea issue," said Lavrov.
Russia is one of the six countries involved in the stalled talks alongside the two Koreas, China, Japan and the United States.
China proposed in late November to hold a new meeting but the idea has been cold-shouldered by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.
Moscow, along with Beijing, has had warm relations with communist North Korea since the days of the old Soviet Union and has sought to ease tensions after North Korea's artillery attack on a South Korean island on November 23.
Talks between Lavrov and his North Korean opposite number are due to continue until Wednesday.
SOURCE: AFP