Summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un ends suddenly - with no deal being reached

An upbeat start to the second summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un has taken a downward turn after talks between the pair came to an abrupt end.

A lunch and signing ceremony between the two leaders were scrapped after talks in Hanoi, Vietnam, ended without a deal.

Despite the sudden end of discussions, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the leaders had a "very good and constructive meeting" and discussed ways to advance "denuclearisation and economic-driven concepts".

She said their teams "look forward to meeting in the future".

Both leaders' motorcades roared away from the downtown Hanoi summit site within minutes of each other.

Trump's end-of-summit news conference was moved up and White House aides said he would address the sudden change in plans.

The breakdown came just hours after Trump and Kim appeared to inch toward normalising relations between their still technically-warring nations.

Trump deliberately ratcheted down some of the pressure on Pyongyang, abandoning his fiery rhetoric and declaring he was in "no rush. We just want to do the right deal".

When asked whether he was ready to denuclearise, Kim said: "If I'm not willing to do that I won't be here right now."

【ギャラリー】Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in Vietnam38

Furthering the spirit of optimism, the leaders seemed to find a point of agreement moments later when Kim was asked if the US may open a liaison office in North Korea.

Trump declared it "not a bad idea" and Kim called it "welcomable".

But questions persisted throughout the summit, including whether Kim was willing to make valuable concessions, what Trump would demand in the face of rising domestic turmoil and whether the meeting could yield far more concrete results than the leaders' first summit in Singapore less than a year ago.

There had long been scepticism that Kim would be willing to give away the weapons his nation had spent decades developing and Pyongyang felt ensured its survival.

Kim earlier answered questions from Western journalists for likely the first time, with the reporters receiving some coaching from the US President, who implored, "Don't raise your voice, please. This isn't like dealing with Trump."

The North Korean leader struck a largely hopeful note, saying "I believe by intuition that good results will be produced."

After a reporter asked Mr Kim if they were discussing human rights, Mr Trump interjected to say they were "discussing everything", though he did not specifically address the issue.

Before the end of talks, possible outcomes that had been considered were a peace declaration for the Korean War that the North could use to eventually push for the reduction of US troops in South Korea, or sanctions relief that could allow Pyongyang to pursue lucrative economic projects with the South.

This article first appeared on Yahoo