HANOI, February 28. /TASS/. Pyongyang’s exaggerated demands are to blame for the zero progress made at the meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, the director of the Asian Strategy Center under the Russian Academy of Sciences, Georgy Toloraya, has told TASS.
"There has been no breakthrough or turn for the better at the talks. Moreover, I doubt if another summit may take place when the conditions have been created at the working level," said Toloraya who closely monitored progress in the negotiations. "The North Koreans’ maximalist demands as they are, an agreement will be impossible."
"Everybody feels upset, although the US leader is doing his best to hold his head high," Toloraya said. "I’ve taken note of the fact that he does not tend to blame Kim Jong-un for disrupting the negotiations. He looked sad while saying that there was no chance for the United States to lift the sanctions altogether, in the meantime, this is precisely what Kim Jong-un was asking for, this is an exorbitant demand, but let’s keep talking."
Toloraya is pessimistic about the chances the two leaders may hold another meeting.
"I fear that by putting forward such a maximalist demand the North Koreans went too far," he said. "I’m pessimistic about the possibility of another summit and about the further march of the diplomatic process."
Toloraya believes there will be a slow-going process: the North Korean will leave the current state of affairs as it is, without [nuclear] tests or aggravations of the situation.
"The Americans, too, will prefer the status quo, without holding military exercises or fanning tensions. Most probably everything will remain as it is."
Second US-North Korean summit
The second US-North Korean summit was held in Hanoi on February 27-28. On the eve of the meeting the North Korean leader said that Pyongyang and Washington were working to overcome distrust and problems together, while the US president promised to tap what he described as North Korea’s unlimited economic potential. The summit had been expected to end with the signing of a declaration.
The summit ended ahead of time. The parties failed to come to terms and agreed to continue the dialogue. No declaration was signed.