Around the World: Dprk/Russia

No breakthrough in talks

Russia does not expect an imminent breakthrough in the standoff over the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) nuclear program, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted as saying yesterday after talks with Pyongyang's foreign minister.

The DPRK last week expelled all international monitors from its nuclear facilities, vowed to restart its atomic program and quit disarmament negotiations, after the UN Security Council condemned its April 5 rocket launch and called for expanded sanctions. Lavrov arrived yesterday in Pyongyang on a mission to try to persuade the DPRK to rejoin the talks.