Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and chief North Korea negotiator Alexei Borodavkin said Russia was surprised by the U.S. statement that Japan, Russia, China, the United States and South Korea had agreed that fuel would not be shipped until progress was made on specific steps to verify Pyongyang's nuclear activities.
"Future fuel shipments will not go forward absent a verification regime," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Friday.
"We hope that all the parties to the talks will comply with the existing agreements," Borodavkin said, adding that Moscow hoped Pyongyang would respond by phasing out its Yongbyon nuclear complex.
"The statement by the U.S. State Department made following the six-party talks in Beijing surprised us," Borodavkin said, adding that no such moves had been agreed on with the Russian delegation.
Borodavkin said Russia would ship the third batch of 50,000 metric tons of fuel oil in December, and supply all the 200,000 metric tons in the near future.
