Pyongyang on Tuesday accused the United States of failing on its promise to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and said it would immediately stop disabling its nuclear facilities.
"Russia is disappointed and concerned over North Korea's decision to suspend the disablement of nuclear facilities and consider reactivating its Yongbyon reactor," the ministry said in a statement.
The six-party talks on nuclear disarmament of the Korean peninsula, which comprise the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, have recently stalled.
North Korea insists it has met its denuclearization commitments in full, and is demanding that the United States end its "hostile policies."
"We are urging North Korea to display true commitment to the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, continue the disablement of the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon and complete this process by the end of October this year, as was agreed upon at a meeting of the heads of the delegations at the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear problem on July 12 [this year]," Russia's Foreign Ministry said.
Under deals reached last year, the reclusive Communist regime began disabling the reactor and other facilities at Yongbyon last November under U.S. supervision in exchange for economic aid and political incentives.
However, Washington insists that the North must accept strict procedures to verify the declaration it made in June of its nuclear activities before it can be taken off the blacklist.
Russia called upon other participants in the talks to fulfill their commitments under prior agreements with Pyongyang in line with "action for action" formula.
"This means that the step-by-step denuclearization by N. Korea must be met accordingly by constructive political and economic steps on the part of the other five participants in the talks," the ministry said.
