Kim Jong-un’s meeting in Beijing is a reminder to Trump that any talks will be a complicated affair

Donald Trump lined up two early morning tweets about North Korea in quick succession, one detailing how much he was looking forward to his meeting with leader Kim Jong-un, the other saying the same about Kim.

The last line of the second tweet was most informative, with it cutting through the diplomatic niceties to say that “maximum sanctions and pressure must be maintained” on Pyongyang “at all cost”.

And maintaining the pressure is crucial for Mr Trump, particularly given the other subject of that tweet, the meeting between Mr Kim and China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

The meeting was important to both North Korea and China. For the former, it marked a first international trip since taking power in 2011, and for the latter it signals to the US that they still have plenty of power to leverage in their relationship with Pyongyang.

Mr Xi will likely want to remind Mr Trump that for all the talk of the US imposing trade tariffs on Beijing, and not shying away from a possible trade war, Washington still needs China to help with North Korea relations.

Sanctions against Pyongyang would have had little effect without the support of the nation’s largest trading partner, and certainly would have been vetoed at the United Nations.

Mr Trump has been keen to praise his “friendship” with President Xi even when announcing the steel and aluminium tariffs, and up to $60bn worth of other tariffs, that Beijing has said they will “defend” against.

The North Korea situation is complex, with South Korea, Japan and to a lesser extent Russia all involved. South Korea has already expressed caution over the meeting with Mr Xi and Mr Kim, which Chinese state media has taken pains to point out was unofficial.

China’s Foreign Ministry cited Mr Kim in a lengthy statement as telling Mr Xi the situation on the Korean peninsula was starting to improve because North Korea had taken the initiative to ease tensions and put forward proposals for talks. “The issue of denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula can be resolved, if South Korea and the United States respond to our efforts with goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace and stability while taking progressive and synchronous measures for the realisation of peace,” Mr Kim said.

Mr Trump will no doubt be pleased denuclearisation, which he has championed, was a part of the conversation between the two leaders, and the White House has spun it as a sign the “maximum pressure” campaign is working. But if he thought the lead-up to the North-South Korea summit next month, and a potential meeting with the US President in May, would be simple, events of the last few days show otherwise.

There are a number of interests at play, not least the international standing of all the nations involved, and they will be competing for the upper hand ahead of the crucial summits. The meeting with Mr Kim is Mr Xi’s way of showing that they should be ignored at the peril of the US.