Six-party nations agree to meet again
4/8/2005 9:14
Delegates to the six-party talks had finished the agenda for yesterday's
meeting and agreed to meet today, sources with the Chinese press center
said.
Although they didn't set an end date for the talks on the Korean
Peninsula nuclear issue that had lasted a record nine days, US chief negotiator
Christopher Hill said the negotiation was nearing a conclusion.
"I think we
are really getting to the end of this negotiating process. I am not going to
predict it is over today or tomorrow, I just don't know," Hill said.
"But,
certainly, in terms of the negotiating process, through this week and the past
10 days, I think we are getting to the end of this," he added.
He said the
United States had made a series of bilateral consultations, including those with
the Japanese delegation and the Chinese delegation in the morning. The US
delegation had lunch with the Russian delegation and exchanged views.
The six
parties are still striving to reach a consensus, said Japanese delegation head
Sasae Kenichiro.
Sasae said the six delegations to the ongoing nuclear talks
continued to make revisions to their stances on the latest draft of a common
document yesterday. China was the key coordinator of the document.
A series
of one-on-one contacts were held for negotiators to exchange views on the latest
draft common document that is aimed at establishing a framework for future talks
and the eventual settlement of the nuclear issue.
Earlier reports said a
chief delegates' session was planned yesterday afternoon, but it was not held.
Observers said that may indicate the failure to make a "final comment" on the
draft document. Hill said he had not been contacted by the delegation of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, another major part in the negotiation,
about the text.
The DPRK delegation could not be reached for comment. But in
its first open statement on Tuesday, it admitted differences with the United
States.
DPRK delegation head Kim Kye-gwan said his delegation had hours of
consultations with the US delegation in the past few days. "Though there are
disagreements between the two, we wish to be able to minimize the differences
and achieve a result in the talks," he
said.
(Xinhua)
|
