TOKYO: Three US aircraft carriers will stage joint drills in the western Pacific for the first time in a decade, the US Navy said yesterday, as tensions in the region over North Korea reach fever pitch, reports AFP. The USS Ronald Reagan, USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt will conduct “coordinated operations in international waters”, the navy said, as US President Donald Trump’s high-stakes trip through Asia takes him to China.

The operation shows Washington’s “ironclad commitment to the continued security and stability of the region,” said Scott Swift, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, in a statement.

On Wednesday, Trump warned North Korea not to “try” the United States but appeared to moderate his bellicose tone somewhat, offering Pyongyang’s young leader Kim Jong-Un a “path to a better future.”

The president meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday for talks dominated by the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programme.