Washington, April 6 (IANS) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said he is “confident” that Washington will hold another summit with Pyongyang to further denuclearization talks, a follow-up to President Donald Trumps fruitless meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in February.
“I am confident there will be” a third summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un, Pompeo said on Friday, adding that he did not know when such a summit will occur.
“We came out of Hanoi with a deeper understanding of each other,” he was quoted as saying by the Hill magazine.
“The positions that the two sides had, the two leaders were able to make progress in that respect. We didn’t get as far as the world is demanding. These are global sanctions that are on North Korea today.”
Trump and Kim appeared to be on verge of signing an agreement on nuclear disarmament vows in February meeting, but scuttled those plans last minute, when the two sides could not find compromise.
At their meeting in Vietnam, Kim had sought full relief from US sanctions in return for partial steps towards denuclearization, an agreement Trump and the US delegation didn’t accept, ending the summit hours earlier than expected.
Pompeo said he was not disappointed by the outcome of the second summit and maintained that the US and the UN Security Council would not lift sanctions on North Korea until complete denuclearization was achieved.
He said that diplomatic channels remained open between Washington and Pyongyang and between North and South Korea.
Trump is expected to host South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House next week to discuss North Korean nuclear diplomacy on the same day Kim delivers an annual address to his country, the report said.
–IANS
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