China and Russia will continue to work closely together to resume the long-stalled multilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear program, China's foreign minister said Tuesday ahead of talks in Moscow with his Russian counterpart.
  

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the comments in an interview with Russia's Interfax news agency as he arrived in Moscow for a three-day visit, according to a script posted on the Chinese ministry's website.
  

"Under the current situation, we hope that all relevant parties can work and go together to create conditions for the resumption of the six-party talks at an early date," Wang said.
  

If the talks resume, Wang said the six-party process should be transformed into a "sustainable, irreversible and effective process of dialogue."
  

"Both China and Russia continue to maintain close communication, coordination and cooperation over this matter," Wang said.
  

The six-party talks, involving South Korea, North Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan, have been dormant since late 2008 and diplomatic efforts to resume the talks have failed to produce a tangible outcome.
  

While North Korea has showed no signs of giving up its nuclear weapon program, South Korea's top nuclear envoy, Hwang Joon-kook, said last month that the five nations of the six-party talks besides North Korea have agreed on certain conditions to resume an "exploratory dialogue" on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
  

Still, it remains uncertain whether North Korea will accept such conditions, Hwang said.
  

Wang called for a "comprehensive and balanced" approach to help restart the nuclear talks with North Korea.
  

"The Korean Peninsula nuclear issue has a long and complex history," Wang said. "All sides must find a way out through comprehensive and balanced solutions."
  

North Korea has called for the resumption of the six-party talks without preconditions, but South Korea and the U.S. insist that the North should first show its sincere commitment toward forgoing its nuclear weapons program.
  

This week's visit by Wang to Moscow comes as North Korea and Russia deepen their diplomatic and economic ties at a time when political relations between Pyongyang and Beijing remain strained over the North's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons.
  

North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong-un, has yet to visit China since taking the helm of the reclusive state in late 2011, while Russia has said that Kim would be among those attending a May 9 ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. (Yonhap)