WEB DESK
US President Donald Trump Saturday said that a US-North Korea deal was very much in the making and would be a “very good one” for the world if and when completed, adding that the date and place for the negotiations would be fixed.
A day after news broke about his accepting an invitation for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump in a tweet said, “The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined.”
No sitting US president has ever met a North Korean leader.
The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 10, 2018
The invitation for the meeting was the culmination of a rapprochement that began at the New Year and saw the two Koreas marching together at the Winter Olympics. South Korea’s envoys had travelled to Washinton to deliver the invitation to Trump.
Vice president Mike Pence said North Korea’s decision to meet Trump proved the US strategy of isolating North Korea was working.
He said the US had made “zero concessions” and that pressure would be maintained until de-nuclearisation was achieved.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders when asked if the meeting is going to happen in May, said: “We haven’t set a time or a location. Those things have yet to be determined.”
Reports quoting diplomatic sources said the talks could happen in Sweden, as North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho would be visiting his Swedish counterpart soon.
The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang represents US, Canadian and Australian diplomatic interests there.
North Korea has been isolated for decades because of its pursuit of nuclear weapons, in defiance of international laws.
Sanders said Trump would not meet Kim unless North Korea takes “concrete and verifiable actions” and that de-nuclearisation would figure in the conversation between the two leaders when it takes place.
“The understanding, the message from the South Korean delegation is that they would denuclearize. And that is what our ultimate goal has always been, and that will have to be part of the actions that we see them take.”
“The President is hopeful that we can make some continued progress… They’ve made promises to denuclearize. They’ve made promises to stop nuclear and missile testing. And they’ve recognized that regular military exercises between the US and its ally, South Korea, will continue,” she said.
At the UN, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commended the “leadership and vision” of all concerned for holding the talks.
Chinese President Xi Jinping rang up Trump on Friday to welcome the development and urged all sides to avoid doing anything that could impede the improving situation.
Russia, Germany, the EU and the IAEA have welcome the positive move by two estranged countries
