Bolton defends Trump-Kim summit, refutes ‘failure’ accusations

Washington, March 4 (IANS) US National Security Adviser John Bolton on Sunday said the just-concluded meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is not a "failed summit".

"I don't agree at all that it was a failed summit," he said during an interview with Fox News.

Bolton also made a similar statement in a separate interview with the CBS' "Face the Nation," saying that "I don't consider the summit a failure. I consider it a success defined as the president protecting and advancing American national interests."

"There was extensive preparation for this meeting. Extensive discussions between the president and Kim Jong-un," he explained. "I don't view it as a failure at all when American national interests are protected."

However, he added that Washington's "programme of maximum pressure will continue" on Pyongyang, which had "brought them to the table in the first place", Xinhua news agency reported.

Trump and Kim ended their second summit in Hanoi last week without reaching an agreement.

However, both sides have expressed willingness after the meeting for further engagement on key issues such as the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the establishment of lasting peace, and economic options related to the North Korean side.

The Pentagon said on Saturday the US and South Korea have decided to conclude the KEY RESOLVE and FOAL EAGLE series of exercises, which North Korea had denounced a dress rehearsal for northward invasion, and "very expensive" and "provocative" "war games" in Trump's view.