N Korea nuke talks parties have no agt on control measures-Hill

There is no agreement so far among states participating in the six-sided talks on the North Korean nuclear problem settlement on control measures over the liquidation North Korea’s nuclear programmes and facilities, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher R. Hill who is the US chief negotiator at the six-sided talks admitted.
At a special briefing on Wednesday Hill answered an Itar-Tass question on the supposed verification regime within the framework of dismantlement of Pyongyang’s nuclear programmes. Hill’s press conference was timed to coincide with the second meeting of the working group on normalisation of relations between Washington and Pyongyang that is scheduled for September 1-2 in Geneva.
According to the diplomat, the verification issue is being broadly discussed at the six-sided talks both in the bilateral and multilateral format. Nevertheless, Hill said he did not think that the parties have already worked out consensus approach on the issue how this (i.e. control over the liquidation of North Korean nuclear programmes) should be implemented.
The expert said that the George W. Bush administration undoubtedly hopes that nuclear powers participating in the six-sided process – Russia, China and the United States – will play a considerable role in this. Besides, the US assistant secretary of state stressed, Washington officials are quite satisfied with discussions (on the above problem) with the Russian delegation at the six-sided talks among which were experienced atomic experts. He said the US side hopes for very close cooperation with Russian nuclear experts as the parties advance in this phase – verification.
The US government had repeatedly stated in the past that it expected important participation of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council in the process of control over the liquidation of North Korean nuclear programmes. After that the US authorities said that Russia that accumulated major experience in this sphere could be placed in the head of this process.
Hill also said that the US administration believes that the next round of the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear problem settlement may be started right after annual meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) that are to take place in Sydney in early September.
Hill confirmed that he would take part in APEC events in Sydney. In the words of the diplomat, he plans talks with the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asia and Oceania department head Kenichiro Sasae and possibly with colleagues from Russia.
In the view of Hill, it would be real to hold the next round of the six-sides talks on the Korean Peninsula denuclearisation the week after the APEC meetings. However, the decision on this is to be made first of all by China that hosts the six-party talks, the US assistant secretary of state noted.
The diplomat also highly assessed the results of a meeting of the working group for the mechanism of ensuring peace and security in Northeast Asia that was held in Moscow on August 20-21. It was a very good meeting, Hill stressed.