Nuclear Power a Difficult Issue for North Korea
Daniel Russel on CNBC
ASPI Vice President of International Security and Diplomacy Daniel Russel joined CNBC on March 1 to analyze what happened in Hanoi, Vietnam at the second summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Russel notes the obvious difference in expectations from the negotiating parties, explaining that “it doesn’t look like there was any mystery about North Korea’s desire to have the sanctions lifted but still be able to hold on their nuclear weapons…[while] the [Trump] administration wasn’t prepared to relinquish the leverage that comes with the sanctions.” Russel notes that a successful summit was always unlikely because “there is a tremendous amount of groundwork that would have to be laid for there to be a meaningful agreement at the leader’s level.” Russel concluded that negotiations moving forward should happen at the envoy level.