Kim Jong-un’s sanctions demands are unacceptable, says Donald Trump
The US leader says North Korea's demands that all sanctions are lifted will not be met
Hanoi — US President Donald Trump says he walked away from a nuclear deal at his summit with Kim Jong-un in Vietnam on Thursday because of unacceptable demands from the North Korean leader to lift punishing US-led sanctions. Trump said two days of talks in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi had made good progress in building relations and on the key issue of denuclearisation, but it was important not to rush into a bad deal. “It was all about the sanctions,” Trump said. “Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that.” The UN and the US ratcheted up sanctions on North Korea when the reclusive state undertook a series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests in 2017, cutting off its main sources of hard cash. Trump and Kim cut short their talks, skipping a planned working lunch at the French-colonial-era Metropole hotel after a morning of meetings. “Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times,” Trump said, adding “it was a friendly...
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