By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff reporter

Russian Ambassador to Korea Konstantin V. Vnukov hinted Wednesday that Russia is not what it used to be during the Cold War era when it comes to foreign policy.

In a speech at a luncheon meeting in Seoul hosted by the Korean Council on Foreign Relations, Vnukov said pragmatism was one of the key principles of Russian foreign policy, especially after President Dmitry Medvedev took office in 2008. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the forging of Seoul-Moscow diplomatic relations.

Vnukov's speech came at a time when South and North Korea have been using intense diplomacy at the U.N. Security Council to influence the 15 members' decision over the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan on March 26.

The ambassador said that President Lee Myung-bak and his Russian counterpart Medvedev will sign comprehensive bilateral agreements in the areas of business, scientific, technological and human affairs in November.

He said the accords, which will be signed on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit to be held in Seoul, signal that South Korean-Russian relations will enter a new stage where the two nations will work together more closely than before.

Vnukov emphasized that Russia's foreign policy prioritized pragmatism.

"In his annual message to the Assembly of the Russian Federation, President Medvedev stressed that foreign policy approaches should be pragmatic and their effectiveness estimated by the very simple criteria reflecting on whether improvement is made in the country's or people's living standards," he said.

The envoy also drew a clear line under Russia's relations with North Korea.

"We are not an ally of North Korea. We have an absolutely different strategy toward North Korea," he stressed.

The ambassador explained the alliance with the North was a story that had happened during the Cold War.

Regarding the Cheonan case, Vnukov said it will take two to three weeks or more for Russian specialists to conclude the cause of the ship sinking.

Earlier, the Russian government said it will decide its position on the maritime incident that killed 46 sailors after the Russian delegation reaches a conclusion over the cause of the tragedy.

"After returning to Moscow last Monday, the Russian experts are carefully examining the materials of the outcomes of the multinational investigation team which were provided by South Korea," he said.

The ambassador called the three Russian specialists who visited Seoul for a week "highly qualified," adding they will come up with "objective and scientific" results in two or three weeks time.

During their stay, they had good cooperation from their South Korean counterparts as the latter provided the former with additional materials, he said.

"Their main task now is to use our all facilities and expertise of the Russian Navy for further investigation. And we consider this job very serious and important," Vnukov said.