Press TV - US President Donald Trump has cut short his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the Vietnamese capital as the they fail to strike a denuclearization deal, the White House says.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Thursday that denuclearization talks between the two leaders would end early and Trump would soon return to his hotel in Hanoi.
The two leaders discussed various ways to advance denuclearization and economic driven concepts. No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future, the White House said in a statement.
Sanders also announced that the US presidents news conference, which was originally due to be held at 4pm (0900 GMT) local time had been moved up to 2pm.
According to latest updates, reporters had been bused to the Mariotti hotel, where Trump was expected to address the media.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] A set up of table for a working lunch between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un is pictured during the second US-North Korea summit in Hanoi on February 28, 2019. (Photo by AFP)[/caption]
Julian Borger, with the Guardian, said "all signs are bad" and pointed to the collapse of the talks as Trump skipped a launch with Kim and possibly called off the signing ceremony.
Both leaders were seen separately leaving the Metropole Hotel, where the summit was being held. No further joint meetings between them were announced.
Trump in 'no rush'
The American head of state said earlier that he was in no rush to seal a deal over North Koreas nuclear program, downplaying raised expectations of a swift breakthrough in his second set of high-stakes talks with Kim in Vietnam, some eight months after their first historic get-together in Singapore.
The two leaders commenced their two-day summit over the so-called denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at the five-star Sofitel Legend Metropole hotelin the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Wednesday.
Both Trump and Kim show apparent diplomatic bromance since their first meeting in June last year, before which they had experienced an acrimonious relationship, calling each other names and threatening military action against their countries.
On Thursday, the second day of formal talks, both leaders expressed cautious optimism on reaching an agreement, and urged patience.
Trump stressed that he was in no rush to secure a deal with Kim and that he was repeating from the beginning that speed was not that important to him as long as the Pyongyangs halt in ballistic missile and nuclear testing continued.
I cant speak necessarily for today, but I can say that this, a little bit longer-term, and over a period of time, I know we're going to have a fantastic success with respect to Chairman Kim and North Korea, the American president said, as they sat down for discussions in Hanoi.
In their first meeting, Trump and Kim broadly agreed to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But, while North Korea had already taken several measures to show its goodwill, subsequent diplomacy was sluggish as the US refused to offer sanctions relief.
Kim, for his part, said that despite some skepticism regarding the fruitfulness of the Hanoi summit, he pledged to seek great, ultimately good results.
I think watching us have a great time will be like watching a scene from a fantasy movie, he added.
When asked whether he was willing to denuclearize, Kim said, If I'm not willing to do that I wouldn't be here right now.
He also expressed openness towards having a US liaison office in North Korea. The two countries currently have no diplomatic ties.