MOSCOW, (Sputnik) – Moscow and Pyongyang are working on creating a system of settlements in rubles, this will help boost trade, Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora said in an interview with Sputnik.
The diplomat said the volume of bilateral trade is small, and the difficult situation was caused the UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea.
“Nevertheless, we have many opportunities even in these conditions to increase trade turnover. The main thing is to establish a system of settlements in rubles, and we are working on it,” Matsegora said.
He also added that Russia and North Korea expect to resume the exchange of delegations and high-level meetings, and Moscow hopes the visits will take place before the end of the year.
“Both we and our Korean counterparts are looking forward to the resumption of mutual visits, we have exchanged proposals on the matter. I hope the first visits can take place already at the end of this year,” Russian Ambassador to North Korea said.
Tensions on Korean Peninsula
Commenting on regional politics, Alexander Matsegora said that Russia wants that relations between North and South Koreas normalize and believes that the current crisis will end in detente.
Russia is interested in the normalization of relations between the two Koreas and sincerely wishes that the North and the South solve all the problems between them on an independent basis, without outside interference and on the principles of national consolidation, the ambassador said.
In this June 20, 2017 file photo provided by South Korean Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, top, and second from top, and South Korean fighter jets F-15K fly over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea – Sputnik International, 1920, 17.04.2023
“Over the past decades, we have experienced several major and a dozen ‘moderate’ crises here. Each of them invariably ended in detente. I think it will be the same this time,” Matsegora said.
Republished by The 21st Century
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of 21cir.com
More from Sputnik Globe:
Russia, China Believe US, Allies Responsible for Escalation on Korean Peninsula