No breakthroughs could be expected at the first working group meeting of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue underway in Beijing, said head of the Russian delegation, V. Sukhinin.

Sukhinin, also deputy director of the first Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said at an interview with the Itar-Tass news agency Wednesday that all the participants in the meeting are experts in specific fields and they can only exchange views on details of some issues but cannot revise the stance of their governments.

Sukhinin said the first day's meeting was held in a practical atmosphere, when all concerned parties elaborated on their countries' official stance.

As to whether the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will talk about any plan to freeze all its nuclear programs or only its nuclear programs for military purpose at the meeting, Sukhinin said this would be a topic for discussion.

It seems that the meeting would go on for another day, two days or three days, and all depends on the progress of the meeting, he said.

The inaugural working group meeting of the six-party talks, involving China, the DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan, started in Beijing Wednesday morning at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in China's capital, the venue for the previous two rounds of six-party talks.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2004)