The nuclear summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Hanoi ended without an agreement Thursday, the White House said after the two leaders cut short their discussions.

North Korea ‘wanted sanctions lifted in their entirety,” Trump said at a press conference, alongside US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“But we couldn’t do that,” the president said.

Trump added that he still believes the country still has “huge potential” and he’d like to “keep the relationship”.

Earlier, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders had described the meetings as “very good and constructive”. Trump and Kim “discussed various ways to advance denuclearisation and economic driven concepts”.

“No agreement was reached at this time,” adding that their “respective teams look forward to meeting in the future,”

No joint communique was issued, despite high expectations beforehand for progress.

In the original White House programme, a “Joint Agreement Signing Ceremony” was scheduled as well as a working lunch for the two leaders.

In the event, both men left the summit venue without a public signing ceremony and Trump moved up his news conference by two hours, sparking doubts about the progress made at the summit.

Kim, Trump open to having US presence in North Korean capital

Earlier, North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un said he would welcome the opening of a US liaison office in his capital.

It would be an initial step on the road to normalising diplomatic ties between two countries on opposite sides of the Korean War, which is technically still not over.

Asked about the possibility of a liaison office — below the level of an embassy — in between talks sessions on the second day of the Hanoi summit, Kim told reporters: “I think it is something that is worth welcoming.”

For his part, Trump said the idea was a “great thing”.

The two leaders are holding their second summit in eight months, with analysts warning they must come up with more concrete progress than their historic meeting in Singapore in June dismissed by some as a made-for-TV show.

Willing to denuclearise

Kim also said Thursday that he would not be at the Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump if he were not willing to denuclearise.

“If I was not, I wouldn’t be here,” he told a reporter who asked whether he was ready to do so.

Trump responded that the comment “might be the best answer you’ve ever heard”. 

The two sides have differed over the definition of the term, and when Kim was asked if he was willing to take concrete steps, the North Korean leader answered: “That’s what we are discussing right now.”

The leaders are in Hanoi for their second summit following a historic first meeting in Singapore last June that produced little more than a vaguely worded agreement to “work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.”

They face pressure to agree on concrete steps on what exactly that means and how it could be achieved.

But the US leader said Thursday he was in “no rush”, appearing to back away from any expectations the much-anticipated meeting could produce any major breakthroughs.

The pair are expected to sign a declaration after their meetings.