no agreement reached between trump and kim at nuclear summit white house says

‘No agreement’ reached between Trump and Kim at nuclear summit, White House says

Politics USA

Talks between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wrapped up significantly earlier than expected on Thursday, and the White House announced that no agreement had been reached between the leaders.

A planned signing ceremony set for Thursday afternoon in Hanoi, Vietnam, was scrubbed, and Trump was set to take the stage within minutes for a solo press conference.

“No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

Still, Sanders described the meetings between Trump and Kim as “very good and constructive.”

Trump and Kim were scheduled to have lunch, but did not enter the dining room where reporters were assembled.

Sanders says Trump’s news conference, which had been scheduled for 4 p.m., has now been moved to 2 p.m. at his hotel.

Kim had signaled during an earlier, unprecedented question-and-answer session with reporters that he is “ready to denuclearize,” reaffirming a commitment long sought by the Trump administration and the international community.

“If I’m not willing do that, I won’t be here right now,” Kim said through an interpreter, prompting Trump to reply: “That’s a good answer.”

Trump and Kim signed a document during last year’s summit in Singapore agreeing to work toward the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” but tensions have since flared between the two nations, and North Korea later said it would not remove its nuclear weapons unless the U.S. first reduced its own nuclear threat.

A working lunch was supposed to get underway between the two leaders in Vietnam on Thursday afternoon, after a whirlwind day on Capitol Hill that threatened to steal the spotlight from the second major summit between the two leaders. But neither Trump nor Kim showed up for the lunch.

Earlier, history appeared to have been made when Kim answered questions from a foreign journalist — almost certainly for the first time ever.

Asked by a member of the White House press pool about his outlook for Thursday’s summit, Kim said: “It’s too early to say. I won’t make predictions. But I instinctively feel that a good outcome will be produced.”

“It’s too early to say. I won’t make predictions. But I instinctively feel that a good outcome will be produced.”

— North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, addressing reporters Thursday morning

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which deals in affairs with North Korea, couldn’t confirm whether it was the first time Kim answered a question from a foreign journalist.

Asked during the unprecedented question-and-answer session if he was willing to allow the U.S. to open an office in Pyongyang, Kim said through a translator, “I think that is something which is welcomable.”

Reporters didn’t get opportunities to ask questions of Kim during his three summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his four meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Kim ignored questions shouted at him during his first summit with Trump last June in Singapore.

President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, in Hanoi. (Associated Press)

President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, in Hanoi. (Associated Press)

Trump, speaking next to Kim at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel, said that “a lot of great ideas” are “being thrown about.” He asserted that “when you have a good relationship, a lot of good things happen.”

“I just want to say: I have great respect for Chairman Kim, and I have great respect for his country,” Trump told reporters as he sat at a table across from Kim in Hanoi. “And I believe it will be something — hard to compete with for other countries. It has such potential.”

Kim, meanwhile, said the “whole world” was watching the talks and suggested that, for some, the image of the two “sitting side by side” must resemble “a fantasy movie.”

Trump added that while reaching a lasting agreement was critical, “speed is not important.” The two leaders then retired to begin their negotiations privately, but were photographed shortly afterward walking on the Metropole hotel’s pool patio, where they were joined by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean official Kim Yong Chol.

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un take a walk after their first meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, in Hanoi. (Associated Press)

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un take a walk after their first meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, in Hanoi. (Associated Press)

The group then went into a glass-enclosed area and sat down around a table for more talks.

Last year, at the Singapore summit, Trump caught U.S. ally South Korea off guard by announcing the suspension of major U.S. military exercises with the South. Trump critics said he squandered critical U.S. leverage before the North had taken any concrete steps toward denuclearization.

For his part, Moon Jae-in said he plans to offer new proposals for inter-Korean engagement following the high-stakes nuclear summit. Moon’s announcement is planned for a Friday ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of a 1919 uprising by Koreans against Japan’s colonial rule and will likely include plans for economic cooperation between the rival Koreas.

It was widely presumed that Trump made the decision during his private talks with Kim — his description of the war games as “very provocative” seemed to be in line with North Korea’s view of the drills as rehearsals for invasions. Both Washington and Seoul have insisted for years that the exercises were routine and defensive in nature.

Bong Young-shik, an analyst at Seoul’s Yonsei University, was less worried, saying that the criticism Trump faced in Singapore could make him less likely to make huge, impulsive decisions during his private meetings with Kim this time around.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“There’s always a certain level of risk in this kind of meeting, but it’s hard to say Trump will be dragged into a decision by Kim just because of what happened in Singapore,” Bong said.

Former President Barack Obama was known to occasionally hold impromptu chats with leaders on the sidelines of major global summits with only their interpreters at their sides.

At former President Ronald Reagan’s first meeting with then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva in November 1985, the two men met alone with only trusted interpreters. Only 15 minutes had been allotted for the discussion, but it went on for an hour.