Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao are urging North Korea to return to the six-party nuclear talks as soon as possible.

The two leaders held talks in Moscow on Wednesday and adopted a joint statement expressing deep concern about escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The Russian Itar Tass news agency reported that the statement did not include phrases or expressions that could provoke Pyongyang.

In the statement, Moscow and Beijing agreed that Iran's nuclear issue should be resolved through politics and diplomacy. The two sides also agreed to reduce their dependency on the U.S. dollar in bilateral trade by promoting the use of their own currencies.