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Trump: U.S. not considering 'Libyan model' in North Korea negotiations

By Daniel Uria
During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) President Donald Trump said the United States won't apply the "Libyan model" to denuclearization negotiations with North Korea. Photo by Andrew Harrer/UPI
During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) President Donald Trump said the United States won't apply the "Libyan model" to denuclearization negotiations with North Korea. Photo by Andrew Harrer/UPI | License Photo

May 17 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump dismissed the idea of applying the "Libyan model" for denuclearizing North Korea, as previously proposed by national security adviser John Bolton.

During a meeting Thursday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump said the U.S. wouldn't repeat the model that saw Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi agree to end his nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief.

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"The Libyan model is not a model that we have at all when we are thinking of North Korea," Trump said. "In Libya, we decimated that country. That country was decimated."

Appearing on CBS' Face the Nation in April, Bolton said the United States was looking into the Libya model of 2003-2004.

The Libyan nuclear program was dismantled during the presidency of George W. Bush. The process involved the transfer of Libyan nuclear equipment to a facility in the United States.

During the Obama administration in 2011, Gadhafi was toppled from power and later killed by local rebel forces.

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Trump warned that a similar model could decimate North Korea and would only be put into effect if planned negotiations with the country don't result in a deal

"The Libyan model was a much different model. We decimated that country, we never said to Gaddafi, 'Oh we're going to give you protection,'" Trump said. "We went in and decimated him and we did the same thing with Iraq."

On Tuesday, North Korea canceled high-level talks with South Korea and threatened to pull out of a summit with the United States over their ongoing military exercises.

Trump said he wasn't aware of any changes in negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and was willing to offer security guarantees.

"We're willing to do a lot," he said. "And he's willing to, I think, do a lot also. And I think we'll actually have a good relationship assuming we have the meeting and assuming something comes of it and he'll get protections that will be very strong. Syria had never had protections. If you look at Syria or if you look anywhere around the Middle East, lraq."

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