South Korea's top nuclear negotiator is on his way to Russia to discuss ways to resuscitate stalled multilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear issue. During his four-day visit, Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck will meet his Russian counterpart, Alexander Alexeyev, to discuss ways to break the deadlock in efforts to organize a new round of six-way talks on the nuclear dispute. In Moscow, Lee plans to ask for Russia's help in persuading North Korea to agree to hold a new round of nuclear talks before the end of this month, as previously agreed. Pessimism has grown recently over the viability of the six-party talks after South Korea admitted to conducting two separate experiments in 1982 and 2000 that resulted in the production of small amounts of enriched uranium and plutonium the two main types of fissile material used in nuclear weapons. Although South Korea explained that the experiments were purely for academic purposes, Pyongyang, accusing Seoul of pursuing a nuclear program for military purposes, indicated it might delay or boycott the six-nation talks. Meanwhile, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Kelly is scheduled to meet with Chinese officials Monday, including Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, to discuss the future of the six-party nuclear dialogue.