Russia prods North Korea on nuclear talks

MOSCOW, March 14 (UPI) -- Russia urged North Korea Monday to return to nuclear talks and allow international inspections of its installations.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the isolated Communist state should give the International Atomic Energy Agency access to its facilities, RIA Novosti reported.

IAEA Secretary-General Yukiya Amano said in mid-December it would send inspectors once Pyongyang agrees.

In November, North Korea announced it had added thousands of centrifuges for uranium enrichment at the Yongbyon plant.

Russia's statement said North Korea should "announce its readiness to return to the six-party talks" with China, Russia, South Korea, the United States and Japan without conditions and "impose a moratorium on production and testing of nuclear weapons, and on launches of rockets with ballistic technologies."

The talks have been on hold since April 2009 when the United Nations Security Council condemned the North for its missile tests.