The first round of restarted six-country talks with North Korea will take place this year and probably in China, Russia’s Defense minister has said, the Reuters news agency reports.

“These negotiations will resume this year and the most likely venue is China,” Itar-Tass news agency quoted Sergei Ivanov as saying.

The six-way talks — which include North and South Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the United States — have been suspended for the past year.

Their aim is to persuade North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons program.

Pyongyang said early today it had agreed to a new round. International sanctions were imposed on North Korea after it tested a nuclear device three weeks ago.

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