Russia and China urged North Korea yesterday to normalize ties with Washington and drop its nuclear weapons program, in the strongest joint call ever by the two countries for detente on the Korean peninsula.
The appeal by the two nations, North Korea's closest allies, was the highlight of a summit between visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) as Beijing and Moscow seek to cosy up to Washington.
Putin also became the first major world leader to meet Vice President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) since he replaced Jiang as head of the Chinese Communist Party last month.
A joint declaration issued after the meeting between Putin and Jiang strongly backed reconciliation between North and South Korea and the revival of ties between Pyongyang and Tokyo.
Analysts say China and Russia have only limited sway over North Korea -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) -- and the declaration was consistent with recent policy towards their small, isolated neighbor.
But the strongly worded joint statement from its two "big brothers" raised diplomatic pressure on North Korea, which stunned the world in October by admitting it had a nuclear weapons program.
"The sides consider it important for the destiny of the world and security in Northeast Asia to preserve the non-nuclear status of the Korean Peninsula and the regime of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," said the joint declaration.
"And in this context, they stress the extreme importance of normalizing relations between the US and the DPRK on the basis of continued observation of earlier reached agreements, including the framework agreement of 1994, and of constructively equal dialogue in the interests of settling mutual concerns."
Under the 1994 agreement, North Korea agreed to halt plans to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for light water nuclear reactors and fuel oil, but Pyongyang told a visiting US official in October that it had a nuclear arms program.
Following the admission, the US and its allies, including South Korea and Japan, decided to suspend the fuel oil shipments starting from December.
Putin's visit was designed to seek common ground with China's retiring and incoming leaders, especially on security issues such as North Korea, Iraq and the war on terror.
Putin chatted with Jiang, a Russian speaker who once worked in the Soviet Union, as they walked past an honor guard before talks in the Great Hall of the People beside Tiananmen Square. The two leaders later toasted each other with champagne.
"China and Russia will be good neighbors, friends and partners forever," Jiang said after the meeting.
Putin congratulated Jiang on the leadership transition.
"There are no longer any more or less irritating questions left in our relations," he said. "On the contrary, we have become partners in a strategic partnership that is beginning to give real results."
In his meeting with Hu, who visited Russia last year, Putin said China's new Communist Party chief had helped to build "very solid and strong foundations" for the new bilateral relationship.
Analysts say the two sides want to dispel the view that their relationship plays second fiddle to ties with the US.
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