Moscow: Asserting the need for efforts to find a political solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 25 called up his South Korean counterpart Kim Dae Jung to brief him on Moscow's special envoy Alexander Losyukov's recent Pyongyang peace mission.

Expressing concern over a possible flare up in the Korean peninsula, Putin underscored the "principled" importance of a continued dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang for a political solution to the crisis, according to a Kremlin press statement.

South Korean President expressed gratitude for the "positive" role being played by Moscow for defusing the crisis.

Losyukov, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, had 6-hour long parley with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il last week. He said besides the United States, Moscow is going to apprise China, Japan, South Korea and some other countries on his Pyongyang mission.

According to TVS network, Moscow has proposed a formula, under which five permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as South Korea, Japan and Australia could provide written guarantees for North Korea's security and development.

PTI