"Our position is to strengthen and develop this cooperation, which would be in the mutual interests of the two countries," Alexander Alexeyev said at a meeting with the North Korean ambassador to Moscow.
A source close to the issue said an exact figure had not been agreed for North Korea's debt to Russia, but it could be between $4 billion and $8 billion.
Alexeyev also highlighted the importance of talks to be held later this month in Vladivostok, near the North Korean border, between the railway authorities of the two countries and South Korea on a project to link North and South Korea to the Trans-Siberian Railway.
North Korean Ambassador Pak Ui-chun said that bilateral relations with Russia have continued to "strengthen and develop in line with the aims and interests of the two nations."
Tuesday's meeting was held on the 57th anniversary of a bilateral agreement between North Korea and the Soviet Union on economic and cultural cooperation.
