Donald Trump has tweeted that the North Korean leader “looks forward to his meeting with me”.
The US president’s words come after Kim Jong Un visited China in his first foreign trip since taking power.
Kim met the country’s President Xi Jinping ahead of planned summits between North Korea, South Korea and the US, with the three having agreed to talk to allay tensions over Mr Kim’s nuclear ambitions.
Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: “Received message last night from Xi Jinping of China that his meeting with Kim Jong Un went very well and that Kim looks forward to his meeting with me.
“In the meantime, and unfortunately, maximum sanctions and pressure must be maintained at all cost!”
Earlier he had written that there was a “good chance” the secretive North Korean regime would move towards peace.
He said: “For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility.
“Now there is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity.
“Look forward to our meeting!”
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