US preparing for potential talks with North Korea over nuclear progress - Axios

According to Axios, there are currently no signs that talks between the US and North Korea will resume soon. However, North Korea has made concerning nuclear advancements after Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held two unsuccessful summits. As a result, Trump has indicated that he wants to reestablish contact with Kim — possibly even in person — and his national security team is preparing for this scenario.

According to anonymous sources, the Trump administration is holding consultations and meetings with external experts.

The "closed-door discussions" involving think tank experts, as well as current and former US officials, suggest that the Trump administration is considering different scenarios for another Trump-Kim meeting, Axios reports.

"We are convening agencies to understand where the North Koreans are today. A lot has changed in the last four years. We are evaluating, diagnosing, and talking about potential avenues, including engagement," a senior US official told Axios.

It is noted that the Swedish ambassador to North Korea, who represents US interests in the country, visited Washington last week for consultations with US officials and experts.

North Korea's willingness to negotiate

However, according to sources, North Korea's willingness to negotiate with the US will depend on the nature of the talks.

"The North Koreans don't seem to have named a new special envoy for U.S. diplomacy, and they haven't expressed interest in negotiations for a long time," said Jenny Town, director of the Korea program at the Stimson Center.

Analysts believe Kim is unlikely to seriously entertain the idea of nuclear disarmament, which was the focus of previous negotiations with the US. However, if the discussion involves arms control and recognition of North Korea as a nuclear state, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be open to it.

Trump-Kim meetings

In 2018, Trump became the first US president to hold personal talks with Kim in Singapore.

In 2019, two more meetings were held, but they yielded no concrete results — both sides failed to agree on North Korea’s denuclearization in exchange for sanctions relief.

The situation became more complicated after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when North Korea began actively cooperating with Moscow in the military sphere.

However, in the early days after his inauguration, Trump stated that he intended to resume negotiations with Kim Jong Un.

Recently, Trump remarked that there had been communication between his administration and North Korea. He called North Korea a "big nuclear nation" and referred to its leader, Kim Jong Un, as "a smart guy."

When asked whether he plans to resume contact with Pyongyang or personally reach out to Kim Jong Un, Trump replied that he would "do something at some point."