New York: Russian Intelligence officials secretly helped the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to monitor North Korean nuclear activities in 1990s, according to a media report, which Moscow rejected as "fabricated".

Russian agents placed sophisticated nuclear monitors provided by the CIA inside the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang to try to detect telltale signs of activity from the North Korean nuclear weapons programme, unnamed intelligence officials were quoted as saying by the 'New York Times'.

The CIA also taught the Russian foreign intelligence service (SVR) officers how to operate the American equipment and Russians shared their findings with the US spy agency, it said.

The joint operation has since ended, but it is unclear whether the Russians placed detection equipment in other locations in North Korea besides their embassy in Pyongyang, the paper said.

Categorically denying the report, a Russian SVR spokesman said "this concocted tale" was aimed at scuttling the Russian efforts to defuse the North Korean crisis.

"We believe that this story has been fabricated for publication by certain forces in the United States at the moment when Russia is making intensive efforts to help in defusing tension over North Korea's nuclear programme," the SVR spokesman was quoted as saying by 'TVS' channel.

PTI