Russia’s deputy foreign minister on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of multilateral talks with North Korea, saying they were “not planned to be held in the near future.”

“We continue to put our efforts to settle down the situation on the Korean peninsula in bilateral contact with major negotiating participants,” the state-owned TASS and RIA news agency quoted Igor Morgulov as having said.

Speaking in Yerevan, Morgulov dismissed the possibility of an imminent foreign ministerial meeting or summit between countries which participated in the long-stalled six-party talks.

“The contacts with the six-party talks participants have been maintained at the working