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The Chinese, North Korea's main ally, have reached agreement with the United States on the wording of a sanctions resolution, diplomats told The Associated Press, although no details were available on the proposed measures. The United Nations Security Council plans to hold a meeting on the issue on Tuesday.

The support of China, with its Security Council veto power and economic ties to North Korea, is considered vital in terms of building international support for actions against North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. China provides all of North Korea's fuel and remains its biggest trading partner, but analysts believe that its influence on Pyongyang is nevertheless limited.

The sanctions, if approved, would be the latest U.N. action in response to North Korea's weapons development. After the U.N. approved a round of sanctions in January in response to a North Korean rocket launch the month before, an increasingly belligerent Pyongyang threatened both the United States and South Korea militarily, and just weeks later detonated its third nuclear device.

Previous rounds of sanctions have tried to curtail North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions by blacklisting trading and financial firms believed to be involved with such programs. The sanctions have also restricted the importation of luxury goods, an effort directed at the country's ruling elite.

Diplomats have said that future rounds of sanctions could expand the number of entities that come under the sanctions umbrella and heighten enforcement, perhaps even through cargo inspections.

On Monday, the Russian U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, whose country currently holds the rotating Security Council presidency, said that the Council could approve a sanctions resolution this month.

South Korean officials said Tuesday that while U.N. officials were moving forward in punishing Pyongyang for the February nuclear test, details still needed to be worked out.

"Significant progress has been made, but no final agreement has been reached yet," said Cho Tai-young, a foreign ministry spokesman.