The summit between the United States and North Korea, which was hosted by Hanoi on February 27-28, has abruptly wrapped up after US President Donald Trump chose to “walk away from” a nuclear deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Even though eight months passed since the leaders’ previous summit in Singapore, the gap is still wide between the two countries – about what concessions they are ready to make and in exchange for what.
GOOD START
The two leaders started the summit on Wednesday on a high note with brief meeting and a social dinner, during which they both expressed their determination for the success of the Hanoi summit.
“This one, hopefully will be equal or greater than the first one. We have made a lot of progress. And I think the biggest progress was our relationship. Our relationship is really a good one,” Trump said at the beginning of the two-day summit.
Trump also voiced his beliefs in North Korea’s large economic potential and readiness of the United States to assist in the matter.
Next morning began with a tete-a-tete meeting between Trump and Kim, with the latter vowing to “to bring a good result” to the two-day talks.
Not only words, but the body language, smiles and jokes of the leaders suggested that the deal was right around the corner. However, at the very last minute, when leaders were expected to have a lunch together before inking an agreement, the summit ended – without a lunch and without a deal.
WALKING AWAY
First, the White House told reporters that the summit would end two hours earlier than previously planned. This arouse a suspicion that the change in the schedule was due to the cancellation of a joint agreement signing ceremony – as there was no document to sign. The concerns were confirmed by the White House and Trump himself, who downplayed the announcement by saying that the talks were nonetheless “productive.”
“We thought, and I thought, and [US Secretary of State] Mike Pompeo felt that it wasn’t a good thing to be signing anything … Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times,” Trump said at a press conference after the talks.
Trump explained that the North Korean leader was willing to denuclearize some parts of the country, but not those that the United States wanted – and Washington was not ready to give up sanctions for that.
“Basically, they [North Korea] wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we could not do that. They were willing to denuclearize a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we could not give up on all sanctions for that … They were willing to give us areas but not the ones we wanted … He [Kim] wants to denuke, but wants just two areas that are less important than the areas that we want,” Trump said.
The US leader underlined that even though there was a good chance for a deal on Thursday, he chose to do it “right,” not “fast.”
“I could have signed an agreement today, and then you people would have said ‘oh, what a terrible deal’ … There was potential, we could have signed something today, I could have one hundred percent signed something today, we actually had papers to be signed, but it just was not appropriate. I wanted to do it right. I’d much rather do it right than do it fast,” Trump said at a press conference after the summit.
KEEPING HOPES
The US president, nevertheless, indicated that he had not lost hope to ultimately reach a denuclearization deal with North Korea.
“Importantly, Chairman Kim promised me last night that … he’s not gonna do testing of rockets and nuclear … I trust him, I take him at his word, and I hope it’s true,” Trump told a press conference.
Yet another significant sign of hope is Pyongyang’s readiness to dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear site, which it, however, does not agree to do without Washington lifting sanctions, according to the US president.
“He would do that, but he wants the sanctions [relief] for that,” Trump said, answering the question whether Kim seemed willing to dismantle the facility.
At the same time, he pointed out, the United States would be able to carry out inspections to North Korea’s nuclear sites easily and successfully.
“We will be able to do it very easily. We have that set up, so we will be able to do it very easily. The inspections on North Korea will take place. If we do something with them, we have a schedule set up. That is very good. We know… about certain places and certain sites that people don’t know about and we know about. We would be able to do inspections, we think, very and very successfully,” Trump said, answering a relevant question by a Sputnik correspondent.
When asked by reporters about his relations with Kim, the president noted that they were “good” despite their different backgrounds.
“We just like each other. We have a good relationship,” Trump said, adding that the atmosphere was “friendly,” when he was leaving after talks.
The US president also seems to have changed his stance on the issue of sanctions, noting that even though they would remain in place, he did not want to comment on the possibility of increasing sanctions on the Asian nation since many “great people” lived there.
“I don’t to comment on this. I just want to tell you that we have very strong sanctions. I don’t want to talk about increasing sanctions … There are a lot of great people in North Korea that have to live also. And that’s important to me. And I would say this, my whole attitude changed a lot because I’ve got to know, as you know, Chairman Kim very well. And they have a point of view also,” Trump said.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY REMAINS OPTIMISTIC
The international community also remained optimistic that the two sides would manage to get to an agreement at some point.
The Russian Foreign Ministry praised the determination of both sides to go on with negotiations despite failing to reach any agreement in Hanoi, adding that practical steps were needed to assist the denuclearization talks.
“Following the second US-North Korean summit on February 27-28, 2019 in Hanoi, we positively assess the intention of US President Donald Trump and North Korean State Council Chairman Kim Jong Un to continue the US-North Korean dialogue. We are convinced that it should be supported by real practical steps toward each other and develop on the basis of compromise and trust,” the ministry said in a statement.
The UK Foreign Office also praised the commitment of Washington to continue denuclearization talks with Pyongyang.
“We hope the talks between President Trump and Kim Jong Un will prove a basis for progress. It is clear that there is more work to do and we welcome the US commitment to continue negotiations,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed his regrets over the abrupt end of the summit, noting that “the world would be much safer” after North Korea denuclearized and pointed out the need to continue talks despite upsetting outcome of the Hanoi meeting.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who talked to Trump right after the summit, said that he hoped for the “strong will and determination of President Trump to fulfill his historic task and open a new era of peace” on the Korean Peninsula. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whom the US president also called after the talks with Trump, was harsher in his remarks welcoming Trump’s decision not to make easy concessions out of the willingness to denuclearize North Korea.
Trump decides to walk away from deal at the Hanoi summit that drew flak
