ST. PETERSBURG, October 16. /TASS/. North Korea’s delegation has stated that it considers nuclear weapons the only effective means of protecting the country’s sovereignty, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko told reporters on Monday after a meeting with Deputy Chairman of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly Ahn Dong Chun on the sidelines of the Inter-Parliamentary Union assembly.

"They stressed once again that they consider possession of nuclear weapons as the only effective way to protect their country and their people and the only guarantee of their sovereignty. They mean the complicated 70-year history of relations with the US," Matvienko said.

North Korea’s delegation not ready for talks with South Korea

North Korea’s delegation is not ready for talks with South Korean representatives at the Inter-Parliamentary Union assembly, according to Matvienko.

"South Korea’s parliamentary chairman reconfirmed that South Korea is ready for talks and intends to hold talks and expressed this intention here, on the sidelines of the Inter-Parliamentary Union assembly, as well" Matvienko said. "There was a lengthy hard talk with North Korea, and they are not ready for negotiations now," she stated.

"This can be explained by the fact that the degree of distrust between North Korea and South Korea is pretty high and, before speaking of negotiations, it is necessary to try to establish conditions for them, that is somehow reduce the level of tensions and stop this escalation of tensions in an effort to start gradually restoring trust," the Federation Council’s speaker explained.

"This is a hard way, but we restated Russia’s position and our opinion that apart from the talks, apart from search for yet political and diplomatic solutions in hard conditions, the situation will continue aggravating, which may have serious consequences for North Korea regarding the humanitarian component," Matvienko stressed.