North Korea claimed Monday it had successfully conducted its first nuclear weapons test, drawing a chorus of international condemnation, even from traditional allies such as China.
Ambassador-at-Large Valery Sukhinin said there was "no reasonable alternative to this process."
"The Russian side is convinced that the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and nuclear nonproliferation are in line with North Korea's long-term interests, and will help deal with its current problems," he said.
Pyongyang reiterated Thursday its position on making the Korean Peninsula a nuclear-free zone.
"North Korea conducted a nuclear test because of the United States, but we have not changed our position on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and negotiations," said Kim Yong-jae, the North Korean ambassador to Moscow.
He also said North Korea would make every effort to implement a denuclearization program.
Several countries, led by Japan and the United States, have called for tough UN sanctions against the impoverished communist state. However, Russia announced Wednesday that it had delivered 12,800 tons of grain to North Korea, as part of the UN World Food Program.
North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003, and in February 2005 announced it had acquired nuclear weapons. Negotiators have proposed aid and security guarantees for the secretive regime in exchange for a renunciation of its nuclear program.
