The Russian delegation, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev, arrived in Beijing Monday morning to attend the fourth round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.??

"We had no change in our stance," Alexeyev said after he touched down at Beijing's Capital Airport.

 

The "package solution" to the nuclear issue Russia had proposed had not lost its feasibility, he said.

 

The Russian government agrees in principle to provide North Korea with energy aid, but the overall plan has not been finished, he said.

 

Russia has proposed a package solution to the issue, that is, to create a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and provide security guarantee for every country in the region, including North Korea.

 

Before departure for Beijing, Alexeyev said in Moscow the resumption of the six-party talks is "very important." Russia hoped the talks could result in "substantial progress."

 

The fourth round of talks will begin at 9:00 AM Tuesday in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, involving China, the US, Russia, Japan, South and North Korea. All the foreign delegations have arrived for the talks.

 

The North Korean delegation, headed by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, and the South Korean delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, arrived Friday afternoon and Saturday morning respectively.

 

The US delegation, headed by Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, arrived Sunday afternoon, and the Japanese delegation, headed by Sasae Kenichiro, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Asia and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, arrived Sunday evening.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2005)