German Chancellor Angela Merkel praises President Trump on Friday for his leadership on North Korea, hours after its leader Kim Jong Un held historic peace talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

"Today, we meet at a point in time where it has become very clear that the strength of the American president, where he really saw to it that the sanctions against North Korea are respected, has opened new possibilities, opened new ways,” Merkel said during a joint press conference with Trump.

[Related: 'Don’t pop the champagne yet': Experts take on the inter-Korea summit]

"This first meeting between Kim Jong Un and the South Korean President Moon is a first step on a road that will hopefully lead into a better future,” she added.

Trump said he was “encouraged” by the “expressed goal of complete denuclearization” between North and South Korea, while reaffirming the United States’ maximum pressure campaign on the Kim regime.

“It’s taken a long time to get here. Many, many decades,” Trump said, as he mentioned his upcoming summit with Kim. “Let’s see what happens.”

