Four of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have started consultations on a statement drafted by the United States denouncing North Korea for its nuclear weapons program, a U.N. source said Thursday.
The U.S. submitted the draft statement to the four other permanent members of the council Wednesday, and working-level consultations have started among the U.S., France, Russia and Britain, the sources said.
China, the fifth veto-wielding member, has not participated in the talks on the statement, which urges North Korea to fulfill its international obligations and abandon its nuclear development program in a verifiable and irreversible manner.
In Phnom Penh, diplomatic sources who participated in a just-ended meeting of foreign ministers from the Asia-Pacific region said the U.S. has also told Japan, South Korea and other relevant parties about its plan to push for consultations at the Security Council to produce a resolution condemning North Korea.