Russian president, North Korean leader to discuss gas pipeline - pape.

Text of report by the website of heavyweight liberal Russian newspaper Kommersant on 22 August

[Report by Aleksandr Gabuyev: "They will use gas to pacify North Korea: Gazprom is prepared to join in solving the DPRK nuclear problem"]

DPRK leader Kim Jong Il, whose visit to Russia has begun, will have a meeting with Dmitriy Medvedev, the president of the Russian Federation, in Ulan-Ude tomorrow. According to Kommersant's sources, the main topic of conversation will be the ambitious plan for a gas pipeline running from Russia to South Korea through the territory of the DPRK. People in Moscow are hoping that the income from gas transit will tone down the belligerence of the North Korean regime, in which case the Russian Federation will make a valuable contribution to the resolution of the North Korean nuclear problem. Experts warn, however, that it will be extremely difficult to carry out this plan.

They Will Talk About Gas in Ulan-Ude

The start of a visit to Russia by the chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission was reported on Saturday by the Russian Federation president's press service. The report was posted on the Kremlin's site soon after the armoured train carrying Kim Jong Il, who is extremely solicitous about his personal security, crossed the …