Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said Friday morning the upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shows a "a new red line in the sand" has been drawn regarding the crisis on the Korean peninsula.
Gardner appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and addressed Thursday's confirmation that Trump will sit down with Kim sometime over the next few months as world leaders continue to pressure the North Koreans to scrap their nuclear weapons program.
"We're here because we gave up on the failed strategic patience doctrine of the previous administration. The maximum pressure doctrine this administration has pursued is working," Gardner said.
"You have a regime that's trying to find a way forward. They've promised meetings before, they've promised action before. This is a new red line in the sand here, and this is what's so important about this."
Gardner said the promise of a meeting is a significant step, but the end result of that must be a North Korea free of nuclear weapons.
"Our No. 1 goal has to be the complete, irreversible, verifiable denuclearization. CVID, so to speak," he said. "If the result of this meeting is not verifiable, concrete steps to denuclearization, it will be a failure."
Assuming that goal is met, Gardner said China will need to step up its game and "engage like they have never have before. It's now or never to show they are going to be a responsible, global leader."
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