US President Donald Trump said Tuesday there is no hurry to denuclearize the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) under his accord with Kim Jong Un – a shift in tone from when the US leader said the process would start very soon.

Trump said he discussed the DPRK with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday at their summit in Helsinki.

"A major topic of discussion was North Korea (DPRK) and the need for it to remove its nuclear weapons. Russia has assured us of its support. President Putin said he agrees with me 100 percent, and they'll do whatever they have to do to try and make it happen," Trump said.

US President Donald Trump (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a press conference after meeting in the Presidential Palace, Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. /VCG Photo

The US president added that "discussions are ongoing and they're going very, very well. We have no rush for speed." 

"We have no time limit. We have no speed limit. We have – we're just going through the process. But the relationships are very good. President Putin is going to be involved in the sense that he is with us. He would like to see that happen," he said.

The US president met with Kim on June 12 for an unprecedented summit in Singapore during which the DPRK leader repeated a pledge to denuclearize his country. A day after the meeting, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the bulk of the DPRK's denuclearization should be completed by the end of Trump's term in 2020.

Not to lift sanctions on Russia

While meeting with members of Congress at the White House, Trump rejected the possibility of rolling back US sanctions on Russia.

"Everything is remaining. We're not lifting sanctions," Trump said. "Not lifting sanctions. No." 

US President Donald Trump speaks during a White House meeting with members of Congress in Washington, DC, July 17, 2018. /VCG Photo

He also said that he and Putin had talked about a wide range of issues such as Syria, Iran, Israel, and the reduction of nuclear weapons throughout the world. 

Read more: Four key takeaways at Trump-Putin summit

Trump claimed he misspoke in appearing to accept the Russian leader's denial of election meddling – in a rebuke to US intelligence chiefs.

At their Helsinki meeting a day earlier, Trump failed to challenge Putin over the 2016 presidential election, seeming to accept at face value the strongman's denial that Moscow interfered in a bid to undermine the Democrat Hillary Clinton.

But faced with outrage at home, and even allies demanding he reverse course, Trump sought to walk back his remarks.

At his joint press conference with Putin, Trump had acknowledged that his intelligence chiefs believe Russia hacked and leaked emails damaging to his rival Clinton.

But, insisting he won the race fair and square, Trump said: "I have President Putin, he just said it is not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."

One day on, however, Trump said he had "realized that there is a need for some clarification," before launching into a fumbling explanation.

"In a key sentence in my remarks I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't'," Trump said, speaking at the White House ahead of a meeting with Republican lawmakers.

"The sentence should have been, 'I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia.' Sort of a double negative," he added – offering a laborious clarification that he repeated several times over.

The US leader also reiterated what he said was his "full faith and support for America's great intelligence agencies."

"I have felt very strongly that while Russia's actions had no impact at all on the outcome of the election, let me be totally clear in saying that – and I've said this many times – I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place," Trump said.