UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 – The United States and Russia told North Korea on Tuesday to stick to a six-country agreement to dismantle its nuclear weapons program after Pyongyang demanded a civilian nuclear reactor as a precondition for compliance.
At the same time, chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill, in an interview with Reuters, stressed the need to use the accord’s momentum to quickly «get (the North Koreans) out of the nuclear business.»
Pyongyang sowed confusion over the nuclear deal just one day after it was struck in Beijing on Monday by vowing to keep its weapons until Washington provides energy-producing civilian reactors.
«I think that we will not get hung up on this statement» by Pyongyang, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a news conference at the United Nations. «We will stick to the text of the Beijing (agreement) and I believe we can make progress if everybody sticks to what we agreed to.»(reuters)