North Korea today pledged to drop its nuclear weapons development and rejoin international arms treaties in the first breakthrough in more than two years of negotiations.

The North "committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes and returning at an early date" to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, according to a unanimous agreement during six-nation talks taking place in Beijing.

In return, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China - the other participants in the talks - expressed willingness to provide oil, energy aid and security guarantees.

Negotiators agreed to hold more talks in November, where they were expected to move on to concrete discussions about implementing the broad principles outlined. The main American envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, has warned that could still be a long process.

"The six parties unanimously reaffirmed that the goal of the six-party talks is the verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner," the statement said.

North Korea and the United States also pledged in the agreement to respect each other’s sovereignty and right to peaceful coexistence and to take steps to normalise relations.

"The United States affirmed that it has no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and has no intention to attack or invade [North Korea] with nuclear or conventional weapons," according to the statement, in assurances echoed by South Korea.

The first round of talks began in August 2003 and negotiations had been deadlocked over North Korea’s demand that it keep the right to civilian nuclear programmes after it disarms. North Korea has refused totally to disarm without concessions, while Washington has said it wants to see the weapons programmes dismantled before granting rewards. The statement says the sides agreed to take steps to implement the agreement "in a phased manner in line with the principle of ’commitment for commitment, action for action'".

North Korea has demanded that it be given a light-water nuclear reactor, a type less easily diverted for weapons use, but Washington had said it and other countries at the talks wouldn’t meet that request. Putting aside the question for now, the joint statement said: "the other parties expressed their respect and agreed to discuss at an appropriate time the subject of the provision of light-water reactor". The North was promised two light-water reactors under a 1994 deal with Washington to abandon its nuclear weapons. That agreement fell apart in late 2002 with the outbreak of the latest nuclear crisis, when American officials said North Korea admitted having a secret uranium enrichment programme.

"This is the most important result since the six-party talks started more than two years ago," Beijing's envoy the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, said. Tang Jiaxuan, a former foreign minister and now state councillor, congratulated the delegates, praising the agreement for having "succinct wording and profound content."

The North is believed to have enough radioactive material for about a half-dozen bombs from its publicly acknowledged plutonium programme, but hasn’t performed any known nuclear tests to prove its capability. In February, the North claimed it had nuclear weapons.

Japan and North Korea also said in the statement they would move to normalise relations regarding "the outstanding issues of concern". The reference appears to allude to Tokyo’s concerns over its citizens that the North has admitted abducting.

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