“It is for this reason that the President stressed the importance of achieving corresponding agreements that would prevent the extension of an arms race into space,” he said. At the same time, Mr. Ivanov stressed that measures to prevent an arms race were needed not just in regard to space.

He said there was a number of international agreements on the non-proliferation and reduction of weapons. In particular, the US-Russian agreement on the reduction of strategic offensive weapons, which was signed by the Russian and US leaders and entered into effect, suggests a significant reduction of nuclear warheads. “This is a concrete example of the position outlined in the speech of the Russian President at the session of the UN General Assembly,” the Foreign Minister said.

At the same time, Mr. Ivanov noted Russia would continue efforts to resume the six-way talks on North Korea’s nuclear program. He stressed that the holding of the talks in a different format would be inappropriate.

According to the Foreign Minister, Russia has welcomed the six-nation talks in Beijing. “It is no secret that the dialog is difficult. But we did not expect concrete results in the first round,” Mr. Ivanov noted. “The dialog should be continued, and all interested parties should take part. This problem can only be solved through a dialog,” he stressed.