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Russia hailed Tuesday's first-eversummit between the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Il and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, regarding it as an important event for peace and security in Northeast Asia.
"Russia has always endeavored to achieve reconciliation and promote cooperation between the two states...as this is a factor for peaceful cooperation in Northeast Asia, a region near Russia'sFar Eastern borders," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris Malakhov said in a Tuesday statement.
"President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Foreign Ministry havebeen actively pursuing this policy lately in contacts with the DPRK and Japanese leaders, urging them to begin a direct dialogue and to settle all differences through talks," the statement said.
Only this constructive approach, not threats or pinning with labels, can help solve the problems on the Korean Peninsula and create conditions for the economic development of the region, it stressed.
(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2002)
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