A U.S. expert on Asian affairs says Russia proposed several years ago the construction a gas pipeline that would run from Russia through the two Koreas as a solution to resolve the issue of North Korea’s uranium enrichment program.

Michael Green, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Thursday that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made the proposal when he was president in 2002 to then U.S. President George W. Bush.

Green, who worked at the National Security Council from 2001 to 2005 in the Bush administration, said building such a gas pipeline has been Russia’s long-time dream.

Green’s remarks came as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed during recent summit talks to set up a joint commission to coordinate details of the pipelines construction.