Russia: N. Korea should continue nuclear shutdown

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Russia said it regrets North Korea's decision to halt nuclear disablement. North Korea said Tuesday it stopped disabling its Yongbyon nuclear complex this month and will consider restoring the plutonium-producing facility because the US failed, as promised, to remove it from a list of states that sponsor terrorism. The move threatens an agreement among the Koreas, the US, Japan, Russia and China for the North to abandon its nuclear weapons in return for energy aid and political concessions. Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the move evokes "disappointment and concern" and urged Pyongyang to reconsider. Removing North Korea from the terrorism list was one of the key US concessions in the deal.