Trump’s tough week abroad
US President faces difficult rounds of diplomacy in Europe
US President Donald Trump faces a critical week ahead with a Nato summit, a controversial visit to Britain, and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in seven days.
The President is scheduled to announce his Supreme Court nomination before travelling to Europe amid a background of international trade disputes and stumbling negotiations with North Korea.
In Europe, there are concerns that Trump could threaten to pull US troops out of Ukraine and refuse to take part in joint Nato exercises if European countries fail to commit to increased spending on defence.
Senior sources involved in preparations for this week’s Nato summit are concerned that the US President will begin talks with Putin about “redrawing the security landscape” across Europe if leaders refuse to meet Trump’s demands to shoulder a bigger share of the military “burden”.
Military and diplomatic figures told of fears over a possible offer that Trump could make to Putin at a summit between the two leaders in Helsinki on July 16 — days after the summit in Brussels which starts on Wednesday night NZT and continues on Thursday.
One diplomatic source warned that Trump could use the offer of cutting back the US military presence in Europe to secure a reciprocal assurance from Putin that Russia will use its influence to help secure the withdrawal of Iranian troops from Syria.
Yesterday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivered a dose of harsh reality to Trump, bashing hopes for a quick denuclearisation deal in a pointed rebuke to the President’s top envoy while accusing the US of making “gangster-like” demands.
After the historic US-North Korea summit in Singapore, Trump declared the North was no longer a threat. Three weeks later, the two sides were still at odds on all issues, including exactly what denuclearisation means and how
it might be verified, after a third visit to Pyongyang by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Pompeo wrapped up two days of talks in the North Korean capital on an optimistic note even without meeting Kim Jong Un, as he had on his previous two trips. He said his discussions had been productive. And, he and other US officials said the two countries had set up working groups to deal with details of an agreement.
But in a harsh response issued after Pompeo arrived in Tokyo, the North blasted the discussions, saying the visit had been “regrettable” and that Washington’s “gangster-like” demands
were aimed at forcing it to abandon nuclear weapons. In a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, the Foreign Ministry said the outcome of Pompeo’s talks with senior official Kim Yong Chol was “very concerning” because it has led to a “dangerous phase that might rattle our willingness for denuclearisation that had been firm.”
A former top US diplomat for Asia, Daniel Russel, said the setback was to be expected and warned Trump he is engaged in a long negotiation that would not produce easy, quick, made for television, results.