SOCHI, Russia - Russia has always favored a civilized way to settle all disputes, including the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, said President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) should not be cornered or intimidated, he said at a meeting of Russian thinktank Valdai Discussion Club here, although Russia condemns Pyongyang's nuclear tests and adheres to UN sanctions.

Whether someone likes or dislikes DPRK, it is a sovereign country, Putin noted, according to an official transcript of his speech.

"We are firmly convinced that even the most complex knots - be it the crisis in Syria or Libya, the Korean Peninsula or Ukraine - must be disentangled rather than cut," he said.