Trump gives non-commital response on N Korea’s threat to cancel summit
US President Donald Trump has reacted to North Korea’s threats to cancel a planned summit with Kim Jong-un.
"We haven't been notified at all, we'll have to see," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday. "We haven't seen anything, we haven't heard anything. We will see what happens."
The US president gave the non-committal response after meeting with his Uzbek counterpart.
He further reiterated that denuclearization would be a pre-condition for the Singapore summit.
The White House, however, said it remained hopeful that the summit would be held, yet asserting that Washington would resort to “maximum pressure” if the June 12 meeting is canceled.
"The president is ready if the meeting takes place," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told Fox News. "If it doesn't, we'll continue the maximum pressure campaign that's been ongoing."
‘Beijing promotes dialog’
China, meanwhile, urged North Korea to stick to the planned summit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (pictured above) made the call as he met with a delegation from North Korea's ruling Worker's Party.
"We support the improvement of North-South [Korean] relations, the promotion of dialogue between North Korea and the US, denuclearization on the peninsula and North Korea's development of its economy and improvement of its people's livelihood," Xi said.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang also said that the two leaders should hold the meeting and come up with "substantial outcomes."
Bolton or summit?
The calls came after the North abruptly cancelled a high-level meeting with the South.
North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan specifically censured recent comments by Trump's hawkish security adviser, John Bolton, who has called for a "Libyan model" of nuclear disarmament as well as "complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement."
According to a Guardian report, Pyongyang’s denunciation of the top advisor has “forced Donald Trump to decide whether to stick with his national security adviser and his hardline tactics, or push ahead with a summit with Kim Jong-un that will provide historic spectacle but an uncertain outcome.”
Trump vs Harris: A choice between two deranged war hawks who cheer genocide in Gaza
Democrats 'risk losing' election for backing Israeli war on Gaza, Lebanon: US journalist
Microsoft fires employees for organizing vigil for Gaza victims
'Hello my enemies': Lebanese journalist on Israeli threats and his resolve to continue
Outrage in France as MP proposes bill to ban criticism of Israel
VIDEO | The strategy of Hezbollah in war
Israeli military withdraws several brigades from southern Lebanon: Report
48-year-old Palestinian man serving 48 life terms completes 22 years in Israeli jails
From MKO to Tondar, how Germany became safe haven for anti-Iran terror groups
Hamas open to any proposal aiming to end Gaza war: Hamdan
Role of private sector in Iran’s thriving space industry
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
