Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have become on June 12 the first sitting US and North Korean leaders to meet, shake hands and negotiate to end a decades-old nuclear stand-off. / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEBSAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
The historic meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un ended before schedule on Thursday.
At the meeting in Vietnam, they cancelled a planned signing ceremony today because North Korea wanted sanctions lifted in their entirety but the US “couldn’t do that”.
“Sometimes you have to walk and I think that was one of these times. We had some options. At this time we decided not to do any of the options. We’ll see where that goes,” Trump said at a press conference that was moved forward by almost two hours after the talks collapsed.
Reports say the discussions stalled due to Kim’s demand that all sanctions be lifted in exchange for concessions on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.
“We haven’t given up anything. They were willing to give us areas but not the ones we wanted,” Trump said.
The summit ended with a handshake, according to Trump who characterized the talks as “very friendly.” Trump said Kim has a “certain vision, it’s not exactly our vision but it’s a lot closer than it was a year ago.”
