China calls for "reasonable" expectations on upcoming six-party talks

China on Thursday urged the international community to have "reasonable" expectations on the third round of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, scheduled from June 23 to 26.

The nuclear issue is very complicated and as the talks begin to focus on substantial issues, disputes and differences among the parties will become more obvious and difficulties will increase, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said at the ministry's regular briefing.

"This is the real situation and the parties concerned are fully aware of the possible difficulties during the process of talks," Zhang said.

The spokeswoman said China will continue to engage itself in promoting peaceful negotiations so as to push the six-party talks forward.

China hopes the third round of six-party talks will carry on the results of the second round of talks and continue to focus on substantial problems, Zhang said.

"We also hope the third round of talks will increase trust among the relevant parties and reduce suspicions so as to achieve larger consensus," she said.

Zhang said the third round of talks will be again held in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing and the head of the Chinese delegation remained unchanged.

The spokeswoman said she was informed that the US delegation will be headed by US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly and the Russian delegation will be led by Russian Ambassador-At-Large Alexander Alexeyev.

No information on delegation heads from the other parties has been confirmed yet, Zhang said.

Source: Xinhua