"We think that bringing this question to the UN Security Council would undermine the current negotiations process," Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov told the Interfax news agency.

"We are in favor of six-nation negotiations for resolving the North Korean problem," he said.

Japan, the United States, the two Koreas, China and Russia have held three rounds of talks in Beijing that have produced only limited results.

The North refused to attend a fourth round scheduled for September, citing Washington's "hostile" policy towards it and South Korea's nuclear experiments.

The United States also warned last month that North Korea might have to be brought back to the Security Council.

North Korea was referred to the Security Council early last year after it withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty and expelled IAEA inspectors.

The council made no decision on the issue.