Russia Says N. Korea Nuclear Talks May Restart by Summer

North Korean nuclear talks could restart by the summer, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Japan's NHK television in a Saturday interview whose transcript was released by the ministry on Sunday.

"It is absolutely realistic to do this not just this year but in the first half of the year, concentrating on the main task of ensuring the Korean peninsula's non-nuclear status," Lavrov said.

"If we act in this way and at the same time do not create provocative situations, it's fully likely that we will achieve a result," Lavrov said.

He spoke ahead of a visit to Moscow by Washington's special representative for North Korea, Glyn Davies, who is due to arrive Tuesday to discuss continuing efforts to achieve North Korea's nuclear disarmament.

Lavrov said he believed North Korea was moving towards stabilization after the death of leader Kim Jong-Il in December and the appointment of his son Kim Jong-Un as the new leader.

"As far as the situation in the country after the death of Kim Jong-Il goes, we have a feeling that it is developing in the direction of stabilization," Lavrov said.

Russia, China, South Korea, Japan and the United States are part of the six-party nuclear talks, which stalled after North Korea quit the forum in April 2009, a month before staging its second nuclear test.