"The checks of data on the North Korean nuclear program will be conducted by experts from the members of the six-party negotiations on the Korean Peninsula nuclear problem with the participation of the IAEA," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin said at talks with his South Korean counterpart Kim Sook in Moscow.
Borodavkin said Russia called on its partners in six-party talks to stick to its commitments on North Korea and not to allow the situation when a member is ousted from the six-party negotiations on the North's nuclear disarmament.
"We want all the parties to fulfill their commitments so that the issue of excluding anyone does not arise," Borodavkin said.
North Korea wants Japan removed from the talks as Tokyo refuses to supply fuel aid until it receives information on Japanese citizens kidnapped by Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s.
Various international media reports have said China, Russia, the United States and South Korea may approach another partner - possibly the European Union or Australia - to take Japan's place as a donor to North Korea.
Under the six-party deal, the North pledged to dismantle its plutonium-producing Yongbyon reactor and provide full information on its nuclear program. Last week the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the North had resumed work to deconstruct the reactor, after a pause of several months.
