Washington DC - President Donald Trump indicated that he'd like to open denuclearization talks with Russia and China, and claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to the idea.

"One of the things we're trying to do with Russia and with China is denuclearization, and it's very important," Trump told reporters on Monday shortly before meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

"I think the denuclearization is a very – it's a big aim, but Russia is willing to do it, and I think China is going to be willing to do it too," Trump said. "We can't let nuclear weapons proliferate. We have to stop nuclear weapons."

Trump said that he had discussed the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but didn't share specific details on what the process would involve or even whether the US would also denuclearize in such a scenario.

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"We're talking about limiting nuclear weapons. We'll get China into that," Trump said at a White House event earlier on Monday, where he also discussed a conversation he'd had with Putin in the aftermath of last week's Ukraine summit.

"China is way behind, but they'll catch us in five years. We would like to denuclearize. It's too much power, and we talked about that also."

Trump also expressed a desire to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and restart the direct diplomacy which characterized his approach from 2017 to 2021, but yielded few to no results.

"I'd like to have a meeting," Trump said while sitting in the Oval Office with South Korea's president. "I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong-un in the appropriate future."

Both North Korea and China brushed off the comments on Wednesday by saying they would not participate in any talks on denuclearization.