Moscow, OCT 21, SPA -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrivedSaturday in Moscow for talks with the top Kremlin leadership on theNorth Korean nuclear issue, reported dpa. Rice, arriving from China, was due to meet President VladimirPutin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister SergeiIvanov. She had spent the past several days in Asia, with talks in SouthKorea, Japan and China about North Korea's first-ever test of anuclear device on October 9. During talks in China on Friday, a Chinese envoy told Rice thathis talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il were "not in vain," inan apparently optimistic summary of China's efforts to persuadePyongyang to return to talks and halt its nuclear-weapons programme.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/397386