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WASHINGTON DC – White House National Security Adviser John Bolton insists the summit attended by President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last week in Hanoi  was not a failure.

On Sunday Bolton fronted an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation,” saying that despite the summit breaking early without an agreement in place, the two leaders will be back talking soon.

“I don’t consider the summit a failure. I consider it a success, defined as the president protecting and advancing American national interests,” Bolton said.

“The issue really was whether North Korea was prepared to accept what the president called the ‘big deal,’ which is denuclearisation entirely, under a definition the president handed to Kim Jong Un, and have the potential for an enormous economic future, or try to do something less than that, which was unacceptable to us. So the president held firm to his view.”

At odds with Bolton was the expectation from both leaders that an agreement would be reached. The White House included a ‘signing agreement’ for the Thursday of last week, which was to precede a lunch between the two leaders. Both were cancelled when it became obvious to Trump and Kim there would be no deal.

Bolton was left struggling to counter the U.S. president’s disheartened demeanour after talks broke down, giving every indication there would be no meaninfgful talks soon – the gap was too great. Kim, according to Trump was prepapared to denuclearise the main infrastructure but wanted all sanctions lifted.

The North Korean foreign minister in a late night news conference refuted that, saying Kim only wanted some of the sanctions lifted.

“What President Trump was trying to do was look at what was possible for them overall,” Bolton said Sunday.

“He remains optimistic this is possible. Kim Jong-un himself said in our last meeting, you know, we’re going to go through many stations before we achieve this deal. The meeting in Hanoi was one such station. So the president is ready to keep talking.”

“Well see what happens next,” he added.

“If North Korea commits to complete denuclearisation, including its ballistic missile program and its chemical and biological weapons programs, the prospect of economic progress is there,” Bolton told CBS.

The White House in a statement described the summit as “very good and constructive.”