Sen. Roy Blunt said Sunday that potential talks with North Korea can produce results, but all sides need to be on the same page before a meeting takes place between President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un.
“There needs to be a strong understanding of what both sides, what all three sides, frankly, mean by denuclearization,” Mr. Blunt said on “Fox News Sunday,” referring to the U.S., North Korea and South Korea.
“What was probably surprising to them was the president’s agreement initially to meet and then his willingness to say ‘hey, if this is not a serious meeting, I don’t want to have it,’” said Mr. Blunt, Missouri Republican. “I do think some things need to happen here before we meet and hopefully they will.”
The president abruptly canceled the June 12 summit with Mr. Kim on Thursday before saying over the weekend that things could still proceed.
But Mr. Kim met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in an impromptu gathering on Saturday in the Demilitarized Zone between the two countries as all parties continue the talks.
“We’ve got the South Korean president, I believe, providing a great benefit in this discussion, unless we are not all communicating in the same way,” Mr. Blunt said.
“You know, what does denuclearization mean? What do they expect to see happen? And I think these talks can produce results. But we need results and they need to be very visible before the United States creates any benefits,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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