US President Donald Trump willing to meet North Korea's Kim Jong Un, says Rubio

US President Donald Trump is open to meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if the talks could produce useful results Secretary of State Marco Rubio said while stressing that no meeting had been scheduledSpeaking at the conclusion of the G20 foreign ministersrsquo meeting in Atlanta Rubio said Trump was willing to discuss issues affecting the United States and its allies including South KoreaHe made no announcement about preparations a venue or a timetable His remarks described the Presidentrsquos willingness to engage rather than a confirmed diplomatic initiativeldquoI dont have anything to announce in regard to that todayrdquoRubio was responding to a question about what concrete steps the administration was taking to bring North Korea back to negotiations He pointed to Trumprsquos public statements expressing readiness for talks but did not identify a new agreement to begin themldquoI think if something productive can come from such talks hed be open to doing it again but we dont have any announcement on that Nothings been scheduled in that regardrdquoRubio said Trumprsquos approach differed from the view that granting a meeting was itself a diplomatic reward The President he said did not regard contact with another leader as an endorsement of that leaderrsquos governmentldquoThe President doesnt view talks doesnt view meeting with someone as a concessionrdquoHe said Trump would be open to engagement if North Korea was prepared to address matters of concern to Washington and its allies Rubio did not specify an agenda or set out conditions for a meetingThe exchange also touched on concerns about USSouth Korean relations including visa issues involving South Korean lawmakers Rubio said Washington would address the visa matter bilaterally rather than discuss its details at the press conferenceSeparately he highlighted a trilateral meeting with Japan and South Korea on the sidelines of the G20 gathering The three countries had signed a memorandum of cooperation involving the Arctic he saidRubio described its purpose as supporting peaceful relations and commerce while keeping the region free from coercion He did not link that agreement to a prospective meeting with KimHis comments on North Korea reflected an argument he also made when defending engagement with Russia diplomatic contact could be necessary even when Washington had serious disagreements with another governmentAsked about Russian participation in the G20 Rubio said efforts to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war required communication with both Moscow and Kyiv He argued that talking to a government did not mean accepting everything it didRubio said the Atlanta gathering itself had concentrated on economic challenges including energy supply chains and maritime access Separate diplomatic exchanges took place alongside that programme with time set aside for countries to meetTrump and Kim first met in Singapore in June 2018 the first summit between a sitting US President and a North Korean leader Their second summit in Hanoi in February 2019 The two leaders met again at the Korean demilitarised zone in June 2019This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever