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All measures should be taken to make Pyongyang and Seoul sit down for talks — senator

There is no other way than negotiations, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko said

ST. PETERSBURG, October 18. /TASS/. Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko stressed the necessity to do all that is possible to organize talks between North Korea and South Korea, though Pyongyang is not ready for it yet.

"There is no other way than negotiations. North Korea is not ready for them yet, but we should do all possible to make them sit down for talks," the parliamentary member said at the final press conference of the 137th Inter-Parliamentary Union assembly (IPU).

According to Matviyenko, North Korea has no intention of using nuclear weapons for attacking other countries and will only use them to protect its sovereignty. She was assured of that by members of the North Korean delegation on the sidelines of the IPU.

"I held talks with the delegations of both South Korea and North Korea," she noted. "Parliamentarians from North Korea said they are not ready for negotiations yet. This is the common stance of both lawmakers and the country’s leadership. [They] explained that their stance stems from the fact that the nuclear weapons they have is a condition for protecting their security, the only thing that preserves their sovereignty, and they are going to use these weapons to protect themselves rather than attack anyone."