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N.Korea nuclear inspection should meet IAEA standards - Russia

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Verification of North Korea's nuclear program should be in line with UN nuclear watchdog standards and the nonproliferation regime, the head of the Russian delegation at six-party talks said Thursday.
BEIJING, December 11 (RIA Novosti) - Verification of North Korea's nuclear program should be in line with UN nuclear watchdog standards and the nonproliferation regime, the head of the Russian delegation at six-party talks said Thursday.

"Russia, as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, believes it is responsible for the nonproliferation regime not undergoing any changes," Alexei Borodavkin, a Russian deputy foreign minister, said.

Four days of international negotiations in Beijing on North Korea's denuclearization process ended on Thursday with no deal reached.

U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters before leaving Beijing: "I would say that there was a lot of agreement among a majority of the delegations there, but ultimately the DPRK (North Korea) was not ready to reach a verification protocol with all the standards that are required."

The six countries - the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan - discussed a Chinese-drafted verification protocol on means of probing North Korea's past nuclear activities.

Currently, the main stumbling block in the negotiations, which have been ongoing since 2003, is the U.S. demand for nuclear inspectors to be able to take samples from North Korean facilities out of the country for analysis.

The negotiations have been complicated by North Korea's refusal to acknowledge Japan as a participant over Tokyo's failure to meet its obligations under a 2007 six-party agreement to provide fuel aid to Pyongyang in exchange for the dismantling of North Korean nuclear facilities and disclosure of all information on past nuclear activities.

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