Mongolia Ready To Host Potential Second Trump-Kim Summit - Foreign Minister

Mongolia is open to hosting a second round of denuclearization talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if Washington and Pyongyang agree on such a meeting, Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar told Sputnik on Wednesday.

SOCHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2018) Mongolia is open to hosting a second round of denuclearization talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if Washington and Pyongyang agree on such a meeting, Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar told Sputnik on Wednesday.

Mongolia and Singapore were on a shortlist of locations to host the historic June summit between Trump and Kim, but the leaders ended up picking the latter.

"For us, it's most important that the summit level meetings are happening. It doesn't matter where. It is really up to their convenience. We're open," Tsogtbaatar said on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in the Russian resort city of Sochi.

The minister emphasized that Mongolia's priority was to ensure that the dialogue on the Korean peace settlement continued.

"What I am really trying to say is that irrespective of the fact whether the meeting happens in Mongolia or not, our Primary goal is to contribute to the continuation of the dialogue," Tsogtbaatar said.

During their historic summit in Singapore, Trump and Kim agreed that Pyongyang would give up its nuclear aspirations in exchange for sanctions relief and suspension of US-South Korean joint war games. However, the settlement progress has weakened over the past months. Earlier in October, Trump said discussions were underway to prepare for his second meeting with Kim, but no concrete date was announced.