Beijing: China and Russia, close friends of North Korea, on January 17 jointly appealed to all parties concerned "to keep calm and exercise restraint" over Pyongyang's secret nuclear weapons issue.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Yang Wenchang and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losiukov called on all the parties concerned to continue seeking a peaceful solution through dialogue under the current "complicated situation".

Losiukov, who had a brief stopover at Beijing before going to North Korea, and Yang called for efforts "to maintain peace and stability in the Korean peninsula, support a nuclear-free Korea peninsula, and settle the nuclear issue through dialogue," according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue.

She said the two ministers also "exchanged views on Sino-Russian relations, the North Korean nuclear issue and other issues of common concern".

Losiukov is Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy on the North Korean nuclear issue to ease the growing tension between Washington and Pyongyang. He is scheduled to leave for Pyongyang on January 18.

In Moscow on January 16, Losiukov expressed hopes to hold "constructive talks" with the North Korean leadership.

He might also go to Washington if his talks in Pyongyang yielded certain results, diplomatic sources said.

Russia has outlined "a package settlement plan" for North Korea, which calls for guaranteeing the non-nuclear status of the Korean peninsula, strict adherence to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and a 1994 agreement under which Pyongyang froze its nuclear programme in return for fuel supplies by the United States.

PTI