At a December 20 meeting of senior officials chaired by President Hu Jintao, China decided to give 500,000 tons of food and 250,000 tons of crude oil to the isolated state, the Tokyo Shimbun reported from Seoul, citing unnamed sources.

China made the decision to "stabilise the new regime of Kim Jong-Un, the successor to general secretary Kim," the paper quoted one of its sources as saying.

It was not known if the aid had actually been transferred to the reclusive regime, the paper said.

South Korea's unification ministry, which handles cross-border affairs, declined to comment on the report.

China is wary of instability in North Korea, fearing a huge influx of hungry refugees over its land border if the state collapses.

Kim Jong-Il died on December 17 but his death was not announced until two days later.

"It is absolutely realistic to do this not just this year but in the first half of the year, concentrating on the main task of ensuring the Korean peninsula's non-nuclear status," Lavrov said.

"If we act in this way and at the same time do not create provocative situations, it's fully likely that we will achieve a result," Lavrov said.

He spoke ahead of a visit to Moscow by Washington's special representative for North Korea, Glyn Davies, who is due to arrive Tuesday to discuss continuing efforts to achieve North Korea's nuclear disarmament.

Lavrov said he believed North Korea was moving towards stabilisation after the death of leader Kim Jong-Il in December and the appointment of his son Kim Jong-Un as the new leader.

"As far as the situation in the country after the death of Kim Jong-Il goes, we have a feeling that it is developing in the direction of stabilisation," Lavrov said.

Russia, China, South Korea, Japan and the United States are part of the six-party nuclear talks, which stalled after North Korea quit the forum in April 2009, a month before staging its second nuclear test.