[KVOLUTION]

Seven key nations neared agreement Tuesday on a new U.N. resolution that would toughen sanctions against North Korea for defying the Security Council and conducting a second nuclear test, but diplomats said Russia still had problems with the text, according to The Associated Press.

Ambassadors from the five veto-wielding Security Council nations ― the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France ― and the two countries most closely affected by the test, Japan and South Korea, had hoped to announce agreement on the text after a two-hour closed-door meeting Tuesday morning but it was not to be, diplomats were quoted as saying.

``We're making progress, but we're not done yet,'' U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said, speaking on behalf of the seven countries. ``We're all working through a large set of very complex difficult issues, and this is a very technical endeavor. ... I am hopeful that this will be concluded relatively soon.''

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said in a statement that the latest version of the draft had been sent to Moscow.

``We are satisfied that consensus is emerging on the text of the draft,'' he said.

The Western powers, Japan and South Korea have been pressing for strong measures in a new resolution, and North Korea's closest allies, Russia and China, have said the Security Council must deliver a ``convincing response'' to the May 25 nuclear test.

But their foreign ministers stressed that the North's nuclear weapons problem can only be solved through diplomatic and political means, and diplomats said China's objections have been resolved but
Russia still has problems with the proposed resolution, AP said.

North Korea has bristled at any talk of sanctions.

On Monday, Pyongyang's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the country will consider any sanctions a declaration of war and will respond to it with ``due corresponding self-defense measures.'' On Tuesday, North Korea said it would use nuclear weapons in a ``merciless offensive'' if provoked.