Washington: US President Donald Trump announced Friday that the summit meeting he had cancelled with North Korea's leader would be held this month after all, the latest head-spinning twist in a nuclear-edged diplomatic drama that has captivated and confused much of the world.

The president rescheduled the June 12 get-together with the North's leader, Kim Jong-un, barely a week after scrubbing it on the grounds that Kim's government had shown ''open hostility'' toward the Trump administration. In the days since, both sides have worked to bridge the divide and proceed with the meeting.

"We're over that, totally over that, and now we're going to deal and we're really going to start a process," Trump said after meeting at the White House with a high-ranking North Korean envoy who delivered a personal letter from Kim. "We're meeting with the chairman on June 12, and I think it's probably going to be a very successful — ultimately, a successful process."

Trump sought to play down expectations of a quick breakthrough at the upcoming meeting in Singapore, saying that a resolution of the decades-long dispute over North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs could require multiple sessions.

He said that sanctions would remain in place in the meantime but that he would not impose more while talks continue, and he backed off the term "maximum pressure" that he has used to describe his strategy.