U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday hinted at having a third meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he appeared to lower expectations ahead of their second summit next week in Vietnam.

Together with his remark Tuesday that he is in "no rush" to denuclearize North Korea, the comment suggests Trump and Kim are unlikely to achieve a breakthrough on ridding the country of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in the Feb. 27-28 summit in Hanoi.

"I don't think this will be the last meeting by any chance," Trump told reporters at the White House.

He said he does not think North Korea is reluctant to denuclearize, but acknowledged that it will be a time-consuming process.

"I think they want to do something," he said. "They've been talking about this for many, many years, and no administration has done anything."

The president also bragged about a "very strong" relationship with Kim.

Trump said he would like to remove sanctions on North Korea, but that the country must first take credible action toward denuclearization.

"The sanctions are on in full. As you know, I haven't taken sanctions off," he said. "I'd love to be able to, but in order to do that, we have to do something that's meaningful on the other side."

Earlier Wednesday, Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "reaffirmed their commitment to achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization" of North Korea, according to the White House.

Speaking over the phone, Trump and Abe "committed to coordinating closely in advance of" the summit, it said.

On Tuesday, Trump said he is in "no rush" to denuclearize North Korea as long as the country continues to suspend nuclear and missile tests.

The first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit, held in Singapore in June last year, resulted in a vague denuclearization agreement in which Kim promised to work toward "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula while Trump committed to providing security guarantees to Pyongyang.

The two sides have shown few signs of reconciling their differences, however, with the United States demanding that North Korea dismantle its arsenal with international verification and Pyongyang calling for a lifting of sanctions.