"Our goal is to develop and deepen these [Russian-North Korean] relations, despite the current situation," said Valery Sukhinin, adding that Russia and North Korea have traditionally enjoyed friendly ties.
Sukhinin, who spent 17 years in North Korea, including as a student at Pyongyang university, said the resolution of the Korean Peninsula's nuclear crisis remains a common task for all participants of the six-party talks, which comprise Russia, China, Japan, the two Koreas and the United States.
In September 2005, North Korea signed a "joint statement" committing itself to abandoning its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. But the country boycotted the six-party talks two months later following Washington's financial sanctions. Since then, North Korea has conducted its first nuclear test and tested ballistic missiles.
The talks, which were initially launched in 2003 to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions, resumed December 18 following a 13-month standoff, but ended without result December 22.
Pyongyang has demanded that sanctions be lifted, and has also insisted on international recognition of its status as a nuclear power.
A symbolic ceremony wrapped up the negotiations last Friday, at which participants made a joint statement reiterating the commitment of the six nations to further negotiations in the same format.
"We believe that this problem [the North Korean nuclear crisis] should be resolved on the basis of the September 2005 joint statement, and we are focusing our efforts in that direction," Sukhinin said.
Addressing bilateral relations, the Russian ambassador, who plans to begin work in his new capacity in January 2007, said that economic cooperation between the two countries should be raised to a higher level following the settlement of North Korea's $8 billion debt to Russia, as the legitimate successor to the former Soviet Union.
"To develop our cooperation, we must settle [North Korea's] debt for former loans," the Russian diplomat said.
"I have close ties with this country [North Korea], and I will do my best to make my own contribution to the development of bilateral relations," Sukhinin said.
