MOSCOW Jan. 24 Kyodo Russia be w...

MOSCOW Jan. 24 Kyodo

Russia be wrought ups that North Korea is not oppos to multilateral talks forward the nuclear standoff provided that holding U.S.-North Korea bilateral talks continues to be a priority, diplomatic sources said Thursday.

Although Pyongyang has insisted that the nuclear standoff is a bilateral issue with the United States, the North Koreans apparently allayed their stance during a series of talks with Russian delegate Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov earlier this week, the sources said.

Losyukov traveled to Pyongyang last week as Russian President Vladimir Putin's special plenipotentiary and held six hours of talk with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il onward Monday.

Japan and Russia have propos a multilateral framework that would involve six states -- Japan, Russia, North Korea, southern Korea, China and the United States.

The sources said the U has floated a larger multilateral option that would include the participation of the European Union and Australia.

onward his return from Pyongyang, Losyukov said the propos multilateral talks are intended to shortage a U.S.-North Korea dialogue and said the negotiation is sensitive by way of nature and is likely to be time-consuming.

Losyukov indicated that further details ne to be worked without among countries involved, so as the U.S., South Korea, Japan and China.

from conditionally hinting the involvement of third parties, Pyongyang appears to be seeking a middle mould in the standoff that in such a manner far appeared to offer no expectations for direct talks with Washington.

Commenting forward Losyukov's visit to Pyongyang, U Secretary of State Colin Powell has said there were certain progres and an interesting component in the results.

The sources said Powell's remarks appear to be based upon Pyongyang's willingness to accept multilateral talks.

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