‘Sometimes you have to walk’, said Donald Trump this morning as talks between him and Kim Jong-un broke down. With no new summit planned, the prospects for a denuclearisation deal with North Korea are not good. Yet South Korea was still keen to look on the bright side: the two leaders had made “more meaningful progress than at any time prior”, a spokesperson for president Moon said. For all the criticism chucked at Trump, this progress (albeit limited) is worth remembering. At least he is trying, after all. But can the same be said for Europe?
It’s certainly striking that while Trump and Kim were at the centre of festivities this week, Europe wasn’t even in the building. The lack of European Union participation in the nuclear diplomacy must grate on the likes of German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron, both of whom represent the old and new generations of European leadership.
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