The North Korean leadership is not yet ready resume six-party talks on its nuclear program, the speaker of the upper house of Russia's parliament said after his visit to the country.
The six-party talks on ending the North Korean nuclear program came to a halt in April when Pyongyang pulled out of the negotiations in protest against the United Nations' condemnation of its missile tests.
"No, they are not yet ready [to resume talks]," Sergei Mironov said, commenting on his visit to the country last week. He said that at the meetings, North Korean officials "adopted quite a harsh negotiating tone."
During his visit, Mironov met with Prime Minister Kim Yong Il, Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) Choe Thae Bok and President of SPA Presidium Kim Yong Nam.
The Russian official said that he did not discuss a possible resumption of North Korean nuclear tests during his visit.
The country is banned from conducting nuclear or ballistic missile tests under UN Resolution 1718, adopted after North Korea's first nuclear test on October 9, 2006.
However, Pyongyang carried out a second nuclear test on May 25 this year, followed by a series of short-range missile launches, and has threatened to build up its nuclear arsenal to counter what it calls hostile U.S. policies.
The move led to the UN imposing new sanctions on North Korea banning the import and export of nuclear material and all weapons except small arms.
MOSCOW, December 2 (RIA Novosti)
