Russia urged Pyongyang to return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and to the six-party talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev said yesterday.

Russia's stand regarding the nuclear test staged by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was well known, Alexeyev was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

"Alongside firm responses at the national and international levels in connection with Pyongyang's actions, it is necessary to continue the effort to bring about the resumption of the talks and try to find a reasonable way out of the present situation," he said.

Alexeyev said Moscow was now in "close consultations in the framework of the U.N. Security Council and with our partners in the six-party talks, including China, to discuss the situation and to work out a coordinated stand."

"We are going to do all we can to prevent the development of the worst, confrontation scenario," he said. "Despite the acuteness of the moment, we hope that everyone should show calm and restraint."

This approach, Alexeyev said, "is shared by many partners of ours, including China."

"The Russian side cannot but take into consideration the factor of the nuclear tests in our further relations with Pyongyang," Alexeyev said.

At the same time, "we are interested in the present complex situation being normalized soon, so as not to have negative consequences for Russian-North Korean (DPRK) ties," he said.

The DPRK announced on Monday that it had conducted a successful underground nuclear test.