MOSCOW, November 22 (Sputnik) — Six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula may be resumed, Ambassador-at-Large of Russia's Foreign Ministry Grigory Logvinov said Saturday.
"When and how can the six-party process be revived? Is it possible at all? It is. And I think the six-party format is still the most appropriate, considering that the problem should be solved in an extensive multiformat global process," Logvinov said at the 2014 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference.
"North Korea's right to a civilian nuclear program and peaceful usage of outer space should be recognized. But another point is that North Korea will be able to use this right only after the sanctions are lifted, which requires meeting of the requirements of the Security Council's resolution," he added.
The six-party talks, comprising North and South Korea, Russia, the United States, China and Japan, first began in August 2003, after North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In 2005, the country declared itself a nuclear power and conducted a series of underground nuclear weapon tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, all of which led to sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council.
Pyongyang's nuclear program has triggered mass protests from the international community, including demands for the nation to return to talks on the reduction of its nuclear activities, from which Pyongyang withdrew in 2009.
