President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on the phone Friday about North Korea, the White House said just one day after revealing Trump had accepted an invitation to meet in person with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Trump and Xi discussed “recent developments related to North Korea,” the White House noted in a summary of the phone call.
“The two leaders welcomed the prospect of dialogue between the United States and North Korea, and committed to maintain pressure and sanctions until North Korea takes tangible steps toward complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization,” the White House said. “President Trump expressed his hope that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might choose a brighter path for North Korea’s future.”
Trump’s North Korea strategy has focused heavily on persuading China to leverage its influence in Pyongyang to persuade the Kim regime against pursuing nuclear weapons. The president has wavered between expressing frustration with China’s lack of progress at times and praising its efforts to cut North Korea off from economic resources.
Administration officials have credited Trump’s push for a punishing sanctions regime with creating the conditions that brought Kim to the negotiating table.
