Trump Says 'No Rush' to Dismantle North Korea's Nuclear Program, Weeks After Claiming It Would Happen 'Immediately'

In a reversal of his previous statements on the issue, President Donald Trump said Wednesday there is "no rush" when it comes to North Korea dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

The president made the comment in a series of early-morning tweets, in which he also said Russia had "agreed to help with North Korea where relationships with us are very good and the process is moving along."

Trump's remarks mark a shift from the demands he made at the historic summit last month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. At the time, the president told the public that the denuclearization of the nation's nuclear weapons and the disabling of its missile testing sites were going to happen as soon as possible. As a sign of good faith, Trump had agreed to stop military exercises with South Korea.

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity shortly after the summit in June, Trump said Kim would work toward dismantling his nuclear weapons "virtually immediately."

While there is now no rush for denuclearization, according to Trump, the heavy sanctions on North Korea still stand. Those sanctions target the country's trade and are intended to hurt Kim's economy.

The series of tweets Wednesday came just days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.

Trump later revealed that one of the prominent talking points in the closed-door meeting was North Korea. The comment came during a statement to reporters on Tuesday in which he backtracked on his comments on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

"A major topic of discussion was North Korea and the need for it to remove its nuclear weapons. Russia has assured us of its support. President Putin said he agrees with me 100 percent, and they'll do whatever they have to do to try and make it happen," Trump said.

While Trump was sharing the news of Russia's involvement in negotiations with North Korea, a Russian news agency reported that a summit between Putin and North Korean leaders is "on the agenda," according to a report by Reuters.

Shortly after tweeting the news of Russia's impending involvement with North Korea, Trump turned on his critics once more, adding that "some people" are upset that he got along so well with Putin and that they would rather "go to war" than see a good U.S.-Russia relationship.