The third stage of the fifth round of the talks, which have been ongoing since 2003, involves representatives of the two Koreas, Russia, China, Japan and the United States.
The Russian delegation is going to Beijing with "cautious optimism," the country's top negotiator and a deputy foreign minister, Alexander Losyukov, said last week.
"We are going to Beijing next week with cautious optimism," the Russian diplomat said, adding that progress in the negotiations would depend on the participants' willingness to meet each other halfway.
"The agreement to hold a new round of talks shows that there are positive signs of progress in the positions of some participants," said Losyukov who met with South Korea's chief negotiator, Chun Yung-woo, in Moscow January 31.
The two officials confirmed their commitment to cooperation, both for the sake of further progress in negotiations and for the sake of peace and security in Northeast Asia.
Chun Yung-woo said the negotiating parties expected Losyukov to use his diplomatic experience to secure specific practical results and avert the nuclear threat from the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S. and North Korea held closed consultations in Beijing January 30 on the issue of Washington's financial sanctions introduced against Pyongyang in late 2005 for alleged money laundering and counterfeiting U.S. dollars. The frozen North Korean accounts, which total $24 million, remain the major stumbling bloc in the negotiation process. But the consultations with North Korea have indicated that the United States might unfreeze at least half of the sum.
The South Korean press has said North Korea could be disarmed in four stages: freezing the declared nuclear facilities, declaring the remainder, inspection of the new facilities and their dismantlement.
North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye Gwan, has said that for now the country is only prepared to discuss its current nuclear ambitions.
North Korean authorities have repeatedly indicated that Pyongyang would only agree to scrap its already acquired nuclear potential after the United States stops trying to oust the current North Korean leadership and alter the country's social system.
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 Communist nation boycotted the process two months later following Washington's financial sanctions. Since then, North Korea has conducted its first nuclear test and tested ballistic missiles.
The six-party talks last resumed in Beijing in December 2006 following a 13-month standoff but ended without result. At a symbolic ceremony, the six participating delegations made a joint statement reiterating their commitment to further negotiations in the same format.
