Japan and the United States have insisted on a UN Security Council resolution that would enact mandatory sanctions on North Korea's missile programme as negotiators sought to prevent a veto from China. Talks at the United Nations in New York have narrowed some differences on the sanctions, which would prevent a transfer of materials or funds for North Korea's missile or nuclear programmes. But other problems remained, diplomats said. Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, France's UN ambassador and this month's council president, said he hoped for agreement on Friday on the basis of a modified text that Japan drafted. But he acknowledged that talks could spill into Saturday. France is among the eight sponsors of the resolution. In Tokyo, Shinzo Abe, the cabinet secretary in charge of coordinating government policy told Reuters in an interview that Japan would "insist on a binding resolution with sanctions." And Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese prime minister, during a visit to Jordan, said he wanted a vote on the resolution on Friday, a day before the Group of Eight industrial nations meet in St Petersburg, Russia. Acknowledging that compromises would have to be made, Taro Aso, Japan's foreign minister, told a news conference that "it is common sense that both sides cannot achieve a perfect grade so both sides have to compromise so they can be satisfied."