In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with a U.N. envoy to North Korea and discussed Pyongyang's nuclear standoff.

The Foreign Ministry said Lavrov and the envoy, Maurice Strong, agreed on the importance of the two previous rounds of six-party nuclear talks and expressed anticipation that further dialogue would be promoted for a peaceful resolution to the North's nuclear issue.

Strong, a special envoy for U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, visited Pyongyang late last month in an effort to seek a breakthrough in the nuclear impasse.

Upon returning from the North Korean capital, Strong told reporters in Beijing on May 22nd that Pyongyang officials told him they intend to continue developing their nuclear weapons program unless North Korea's security is guaranteed.