"I would not say there have been increased tensions between the parties; there is better mutual understanding, therefore there are attempts to find a way out," Mr Sukhinin said and emphasized that the work of the Russian delegation at the Beijing round of talks would be result-oriented.
He also expressed hope that the problem would be discussed calmly.
According to the Russia diplomat, chief of the Russian delegation to the six-sided negotiations Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Alekseev is arriving in the Chinese capital on Tuesday.
An expert working group was established in compliance with a decision of the second plenary six-sided meeting of China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, and the U.S. This working group is assigned to prepare six-sided plenary meetings at a level of deputy foreign ministers of the six countries, work out the agenda, and define the ways of progress of the negotiation process.
The experts of the six countries have held an opening meeting already. Their second session scheduled for Monday and Tuesday will be a step towards the third round of negotiations between special envoys of the six countries. This session is to begin in Beijing on Wednesday.
An official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said last week that Wednesday's third round of the meeting should be treated with "reasonable expectation." He said that many "important issues" would be "discussed in more detail" at the plenary meeting. However, he emphasized that there were "heightened differences and difficulties" between the parties.
Deputy North Korean Foreign Minister Li Gun, head of his country's delegation to the talks, told reporters on his arrival to Beijing that North Korea's stance remained the same.
"Our government does not have any new suggestions; we are going to see what the U.S. comes up with," he said.
Li Gun underlined that only then would North Korea freeze its nuclear program when it "had guaranteed national security and energy supplies."
The U.S., Japan, and South Korea's share the same position at the talks - they will most likely demand that North Korea abandons its nuclear program fully, verifiably, and irreversibly.
