Kim meets with Xi in Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gathered on Tuesday in Kim’s third trip to China in recent months, The Associated Press reported.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang reportedly said the meeting will “strengthen our strategic communication on major issues to promote regional peace and stability.” 

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Geng also said China believes sanctions placed on North Korea outside of the United Nations must be lifted.

“China always stands against the so-called unilateral sanctions outside the Security Council framework. This position is very clear and we believe sanctions themselves are not the end,” said Geng, according to The AP. 

The gathering comes after President Trump’s historic summit last week with Kim in Singapore.

The two leaders signed a joint statement that said the U.S. would give unspecified “security guarantees” to Pyongyang, while Kim pledged to the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

But that statement lacked specifications about how North Korea would dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

Xi told Kim he wants the U.S. and North Korea to execute on its agreement following the summit, according to the AP.

Xi said the Singapore gathering was an “important step toward the political solution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue,” the AP reported.

Trump has touted the summit as a success.

“There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience,” Trump wrote on Twitter June 13. “North Korea has great potential for the future!”

Xi and Kim in early May met in northern China following Kim’s historic crossing into South Korea.