White House Announces Exact Time of Trump, Kim First Meeting
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The first meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place at 9:00 a.m. Singapore time on June 12, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a press briefing on Monday.
"The schedule, tentatively, for that first meeting will be on June 12 at 9:00 a.m. Singapore time and take place on June 11, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time," Sanders told reporters.
The US advance team, which arrived in Singapore last week, is finalizing "logistical preparations" for the historic meeting and will remain there until the summit begins, Sanders added.
A US delegation remains in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) working with a North Korean delegation ahead of the summit, according to the White House. Sanders characterized their work as "positive" and added that "progress has been made."
However, the United States is continuing its maximum pressure policy on North Korea despite an upcoming summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, Sarah Sanders said in a briefing.
"Our policy hasn't changed and as the President stated, the sanctions are still on, they are very powerful. And we would not take these sanctions off unless North Korea denuclearized," Sanders told reporters when asked if the US maximum pressure campaign was still in place.
On Friday, after meeting with North Korean Vice Chairman Kim Yong Chol, Trump said he no longer wants to use the term "maximum pressure" to describe the US-led campaign of economic sanctions on North Korea.
- Source : Sputnik
