ST. PETERSBURG, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday he intended to discuss nuclear proliferation at his upcoming meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.
The two presidents are due to meet in Moscow in early July.
Speaking on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg economic forum, he said proliferation concerns had increased following North Korea's nuclear test last month.
"I expect to discuss the issue with the U.S. president soon," he said.
He said Russia and the United States were aware of their responsibility but "uncontrolled proliferation of nuclear weapons threatens the whole of mankind."
Medvedev said it was necessary to monitor very closely the ongoing processes in "borderline states," which were developing nuclear weapons without an international mandate.
He previously said he is ready to support economic sanctions to deter North Korea's nuclear program.
Russia's UN envoy said earlier on Friday the five permanent members of the UN Security Council "are close" to passing a draft resolution on N. Korea which includes new sanctions against the reclusive communist regime.
The ambassadors from Russia, the U.S., China, the U.K. and France, as well as envoys from Japan and South Korea held a new round of closed-door consultations late on Thursday in an attempt to determine what will be included in the sanctions following Pyongyang's latest nuclear test and missile launches.
The UN Security Council has denounced Pyongyang's May 25 nuclear test as a violation of Resolution 1718 and the international non-proliferation regime. North Korea is under a number of UN sanctions over its first nuclear test, carried out in 2006.
Possible new sanctions may include a ban on importing and exporting all arms and not just heavy weapons, additional asset freezes and travel bans for North Korean officials, and placing more firms on a UN blacklist, according to UN sources.
Once the representatives have agreed the draft text, it will be sent to their governments for approval. The resolution will then be voted on by the 15-nation Security Council.
