Trump-Kim summit: US president blames failure of talks on North Korea's demand for sanctions to be dropped

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'Speed is not that important to me' Kim Jong Un listens as Trump says he's in 'no rush' over North Korea denuclearisation deal

Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have cut short their talks in Hanoi, Vietnam and skipped a scheduled lunch event.

The White House confirmed the summit had ended with “no agreement reached” as the leaders headed back to their respective hotels.

The US president talks broke down over North Korea’s demands on US-led sanctions.

“Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, but we couldn’t do that,” he told reporters. “Sometimes you have to walk.”

Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said negotiations would continue at a future date.

Several Democrats came out acknowledging Mr Trump’s decision to walk away without a deal was the right move in this situation. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff said walking away with no deal was better than agreeing to a bad deal, before adding that it was “the result of a poorly planned strategy.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed similar statements, citing his concerns about the likelihood of a bad deal forming out of the summit.

“A deal that fell short of complete denuclearization would have only made North Korea stronger & the world less safe,” Mr Schumer said.

After the summit, Mr Trump also defended Mr Kim over the tragic death of American college student Otto Warmbier, who was jailed in North Korea in December 2015 for attempting to steal propaganda material during an organised tour.The president said he does not believe the autocratic leader was aware of Mr Warmbier’s condition in the North Korean hard labour prison camp.

"He tells me he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word,” Mr Trump said.

After two years of imprisonment, North Korean authorities returned Mr Warbier to the US in a coma in July 2017. A few days later, the 22-year-old died in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman criticised the American president’s defense of Mr Kim.

“I’m very concerned that the President didn’t seem to be all that concerned about the murder of Otto Warmbier from Cincinnati,” Mr Brown told reporters on Thursday. “I don’t know how he says he likes the dictator of NK so much.”

Mr Portman insists that Mr Trump and the American people must remember Mr Warmbier and that “we should never let North Korea off the hook for what they did to him."

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Key Points

• Trump-Kim talks in Hanoi end abruptly
• 'Sometimes you have to walk', says president
• President blames North Korean sanctions demands for failure to reach deal
• Cohen 'lied a lot' in testimony, claims Trump

[28 February 2019 16:45 · Sarah Harvard]

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown slammed Donald Trump on Twitter for believing and defending autocrats even when it results in the killing of innocent people.