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Russian envoy upbeat after Pyongyang talks
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Russian envoy Alexander Losyukov is optimistic a nuclear standoff can be resolved after a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang. Losyukov called the meeting "successful" and "interesting," on his return to Beijing Tuesday. "There is still optimism in the possible peaceful solution to the situation," Losyukov told reporters after arriving from Pyongyang. He would not give out details about his six-hour meeting Monday with Kim, saying he must first report back to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Losyukov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, was to have presented a Russian plan to Kim in which North Korea would receive security guarantees and economic aid in return for freezing its nuclear program. The meeting came as North Korean officials rejected Washington's proposal to bring the dispute over that nation's nuclear program before the U.N. Security Council for resolution, saying the move and the imposition of sanctions would be tantamount to a declaration of war. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "therefore, has an obligation to refer the matter to the Security Council." One U.S. State Department official said the IAEA was expected to meet "soon" to refer the matter to the Security Council. Meanwhile, the two Koreas begin high level talks in Seoul Tuesday amid tensions caused by North Korea's nuclear policies. The talks, officially unrelated to the nuclear standoff, include Cabinet-level meetings in Seoul and economic discussions in the North. "Through various South-North contacts, the government will directly deliver our and international concerns over the North's nuclear issue and urge them to actively resolve the problem," The Associated Press reported Park Sun-sook, chief spokesman for outgoing President Kim Dae-jung, as saying. The North Korean standoff has prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity to try to bring the situation under control. Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said Monday that Beijing is intent on keeping the Korean peninsula a "nuclear-weapon-free zone." China, one of North Korea's strongest allies, wants to "maintain peace and stability" in the region, and remains committed to solving the problem "through diplomatic and political means," he said. China, one of Pyongyang's strongest allies, would not object to the Security Council taking up the matter, according to State Department Undersecretary John Bolton. Meanwhile, an Australian delegation that returned Monday from talks in Pyongyang also said progress was made. "It's clear that the North Koreans are prepared to engage in dialogue," Alexander Downer, Australian foreign minister, told CNN. "I think from our visit they have a much better understanding of the parameters within which such a dialogue would possibly occur." Downer, speaking from Canberra, said he believes North Korean officials had had some "unrealistic expectations" about what the United States was prepared to do. North Korea has said in the past that it is willing to resolve U.S. security concerns if a non-aggression treaty is signed, but Washington has rejected that offer, insisting on concrete steps by North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program as a condition for renewed talks. 'Peaceful characteristics'North Korea reiterated its call for a non-aggression treaty with the United States in an editorial published Monday, but also included a warning, according to South Korea's official Yonhap News Agency. "Our missile plan is strictly for defensive purposes, and has peaceful characteristics, and does not threaten any country which honors our sovereignty," it said. "If our enemies keep talking about a missile threat, then this can only bring about harm to them." Earlier this month, Pyongyang threatened to lift a self-imposed moratorium on missile tests. Concerns have been raised about North Korea's missile development program, with some U.S. defense analysts saying that nation could roll out a missile capable of hitting the continental United States before 2015. North Korea's history "has been one of attempting to use weapons programs to blackmail the West into helping stave off their economic disaster," U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. Comparing Washington's view of the North Korean situation to Iraq, Rumsfeld said, "North Korea is a threat to be sure, but it's a different kind of threat. One that, for now at least, can be handled through diplomacy and differently." -- CNN Correspondent Jaime Florcruz and CNN State Department Producer Elise Labott contributed to this report.
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