Russia, China urge talks on North Korea

[June 17, 2009]  MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia and China have expressed serious concern about the tension on the Korean peninsula and urged North Korea to return to six-nation talks on its nuclear program.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev made the call for a resumption of the talks in a joint statement released at their meetings Wednesday in Moscow.

It said they "expressed serious concern in connection with the situation on the Korean peninsula."

It called for the swiftest possible return to the talks, which broke down months ago.

The statement included no new initiatives on the mounting problem and used language that appeared aimed at avoiding angering North Korea.

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AP's earlier story is below.

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NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (AP) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Russia's two top leaders Wednesday following international summits that underscored both the common goals and the differing interests of the giant neighbors.

Eager to counter the influence of the West, especially the United States, China and Russia have forged a strategic partnership after decades of tension during Soviet era.

Before a breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on a porch at his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, Hu said China sees Russia as a key partner and stressed the need for close interaction between the two.

"In a time of deep and complex changes, it seems even more important to foster our practical cooperation," Hu said.

Hu was meeting later with President Dmitry Medvedev for talks expected to touch on North Korea as well as bilateral relations and efforts to gain more clout in the global economy.

China and Russia have used their status as veto-wielding permanent U.N. Security Council members to soften Western-backed sanctions against Pyongyang in the past, but approved new punitive measures this month after expressing unusually strong concern over North Korea's recent nuclear test and missile launches.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Viktor Popovkin has said if a North Korean missile flies toward Russia "we will see it and shoot it down," the Interfax news agency reported.

Hu flew to Moscow late Tuesday after two days in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, where Medvedev hosted summits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization -- which links Russia and China with four Central Asian nations -- and the BRIC group of emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Hu told Putin both summits were "very successful."

Russia and China are using both groups to bolster their global economic clout and counterbalance U.S. and Western interest in ex-Soviet Central Asia. But the summits also reflected rifts between Russia and China on the economy and competition over Central Asia.

While Medvedev pushed for an alternative global currency to augment the U.S. dollar, China, the largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, was more cautious.

The BRIC leaders issued a statement that called for a more diversified international monetary system and a greater role for their nations in major global financial decisions, but they did not explicitly criticize the dollar and contained no reference to developing new reserve currencies.

The wording appeared to reflect China's concerns that any anti-dollar statements could erode the value of its currency reserves. Speaking after Medvedev at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, Hu also made no specific mention of the dollar.

Hu announced that China will loan the Shanghai group $10 billion to shore up its members -- including oil-rich Kazakhstan, regional power Uzbekistan and poor nations Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan -- amid the global financial crisis.

That move will increase Beijing's clout in Central Asia, where it is competing with both Russia and the West for influence and access to energy supplies.

[Associated Press]

Associated Press writer Steve Gutterman contributed to this report from Moscow.

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