U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday prodded North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons as his planned high-stakes meeting with the country's leader Kim Jong Un draws closer.

While asserting that the dialogue with Kim will turn out to be "very positive" for North Korea and the world, he said the U.S.-led maximum pressure campaign on Pyongyang will continue.

"I want to see denuclearization of North Korea...I want them to get rid of their nukes," Trump said at a joint news conference after his White House meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

During the talks with Macron, parts of which were open to the press, he said he expects to meet with Kim "very soon" and lauded him as being "very open" and "very honorable."

(U.S. President Trump wants denuclearization of North Korea.)
[Getty Images]

Trump made the remarks days after Pyongyang announced it will suspend nuclear tests and test-firings of intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as dismantle its only known nuclear test site. He is to meet with Kim by early June.

On Iran, the U.S. president warned of the consequences Tehran would face if it were to restart its nuclear program. "I will say if Iran threatens us in any way, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid," he said.

Trump also called the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers including the United States "a deal with decayed foundations" that should have never been sealed. He has set a May 12 deadline to fix the agreement or walk away from it.

For his part, Macron proposed negotiations on a "new deal" designed to curb Iran's nuclear program in view of Trump's concern about the current pact.

Earlier in the day, a top Iranian security official said Iran may withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the United States trashes the nuclear deal.

In July 2015, Iran and the six powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- struck an accord formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in which Iran pledged to curb activities such as uranium enrichment.

As for Syria, Trump said he wants to withdraw U.S. troops from the country "relatively soon," but noted that such a move might not happen right away.

The United States, Britain and France coordinated targeted missile strikes in Syria earlier this month in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians.