HANOI, November 19 (RIA Novosti) - The six-party talks on the North Korea nuclear issue could restart in December, the Russian foreign minister said Sunday.

The talks with North Korea, which began in the summer of 2003 with the aim of persuading the country to give up its controversial nuclear program after Pyongyang withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, involve the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.

Sergei Lavrov's statement followed a meeting of the Russian and U.S. presidents in the Vietnamese capital.

"As for the nuclear problem of the Korean peninsula, the presidents confirmed the instruction to work towards the quickest resumption of six-party talks. I believe this could be done already next month," Lavrov said.