Beijing: The United States and North Korea had their first 1 in four months here this afternoon as part of the 2 negotiations on how to end North Korea’s nuclear program,but diplomats played down prospects for 3 ．
The talks are at the Diaoyutai 4 ，a sprawling，garden-filled 5 in western BeOing，with negotiators gathering around a giant hexagonal table built to 6 the six delegations．
The Chinese placed the Americans and the North Koreans in 7 ，which may have facilitated the 8 between Mr．Kelly and Mr.Kim,whichtook place 9 in the afternoon session．The two spoke for 30 minutes，two Asian diplomats 10 ．
The early indications of how the talks are going 11 ．A South Korean who took part in the meetings described North Korea as“willing to 12 through dialogue．”Chinese officials also put a 13 on the talks．“I heard talks this morning and this afternoon were very successful，”the Foreign Minister，Li Zhaoxing， told delegates 14 ．
But Japanese and Russian participants were 15 ．The Russian 16 ，Aleksandr Losyukov,described the negotiations as 17 ．“Sofar，the countries have put forward a number of 18 ，which are 19 the development ofthese talks，”he told Russian reporters in Beijing．“I would not say that I am feeling 20 ．”