The UVF will not declare an end to its violent campaign until November at the earliest, according to a report in a Northern Ireland newspaper today.
The Belfast Telegraphsaid it had secured the first "official in-depth interview" with the loyalist paramilitary group since the 1970s.
It published a photograph of acclaimed journalist Brian Rowan speaking to a man wearing a balaclava sitting in front of a UVF banner.
The masked man was speaking on behalf of the UVF and the closely linked Red Hand Commandos in the presence of a senior figure in the UVF leadership, the report said.
The spokesman is quoted saying the UVF will not state its position until after the November 24 thdeadline set by the British and Irish governments for the restoration of power-sharing.
The organisation is concerned about the governments' intentions in the event power sharing is not restored. The governments have refused to reveal details of their so-called plan B but have clearly indicated they will impose arrangements for the North with or without local parties' consent.
He said wide-ranging talks were taking place throughout the organisation about the latest political developments and said that while the UVF supported devolution he warned about any alternative that compromised the union.
"Any option which gives the destiny of Northern Ireland constitutionally to the Northern Ireland people is much better than any circumstance which would threaten joint authority, joint management or whatever it might be termed.
"We are joined together as a group who believe in the integrity of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom and with the will to defend that at all costs," the UVF spokesman said.
He acknowledged the importance of the IRA declaration of an end to its paramilitary activities and said it would be "fair" to say the UVF were heading towards peace.
But handing in weapons in the short-to-medium term was not on the UVF agenda, he said. "Decommissioning is something that the Ulster Volunteer Force have neither promised nor discussed nor are likely to become engaged in."
He said the organisation was not a threat to the republican or nationalist community but the IRA remains a threat to "the loyalist community and to the constitutional position of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom," the spokesman said.
"The UVF were the first organisation on the stage. We will be, if at any stage in the future leaving the stage, the final organisation to do that."
SDLP justice spokesman Alban Maginness said the UVF's position was "disappointing".