The agreement to that effect was reached during a phone conversation on Friday between Director General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry Shinsuka Sugiyama and Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov. Earlier, Pyongyang announced plans to launch a space rocket, which is to bring a satellite into orbit. The launch is scheduled for the period between December 10 and 22. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo fear that this will be a test of an intercontinental ballistic rocket which is banned by the UN Security Council's resolution. Russia has urged North Korea to reconsider its decision. Moscow stressed that it was ready together with its partners in six-party talks to continue working on the settlement of the problems on the Korean peninsula.