North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says he will not take any unilateral steps towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and is instead awaiting a US response to the measures Pyongyang has already taken, a senior Russian official who met him this weekend says.

AVA- Valentina Matvienko, speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, who met with Kim this weekend in Pyongyang, told RIA Novosti news agency on Monday that the North Korean leader made it clear during their bilateral meeting that he did not plan any further steps in the settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue without a “reciprocal” action from Washington.
"They are waiting for reciprocal, step-by-step and synchronized steps as they expected, and easing of sanctions, which is not happening yet, so they continue to negotiate, contact, and hope that there will also be some reaction from the other side,” Matvienko said.
"He is ready for mutually respectful negotiations, for a mutually respectful movement towards each other, and he does not plan any unilateral steps without a counter reaction," the senior Russian official said.
Matvienko also said that Kim had been polite and diplomatic in his remarks about US President Donald Trump and quoted him as saying he hoped for Russia’s backing in easing US sanctions on North Korea.
"As for the United States, he was very diplomatic, correctly stated that the Singapore summit was a success, but now they are waiting for counter steps, because it cannot be that only North Korea is taking steps to denuclearize," she noted, referring to the Kim-Trump summit in June.
"He very much expects Russia to make efforts to ease sanctions on [North] Korea given the steps they have been taking in accordance with the obligations they took at the Singapore talks," Matvienko said.
The Russian senate speaker praised Pyongyang's decision to suspend missile tests and to destroy a nuclear test site as "two serious steps" aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Trump and Kim made a broad agreement on denuclearization at the Singapore summit on June 12, but sanctions meant to punish Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile programs still remain in place.
Those talks are now stalled due to disagreements between the two sides, with Pyongyang accusing the US of obstructing inter-Korean talks as well.