U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold an unprecedented gathering on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China.
The three leaders will meet to discuss nuclear proliferation following the expiration of the New START treaty in February, alongside regional conflicts including the war in Iran. White House Assistant Press Secretary Olivia Wales confirmed the agenda in a briefing with reporters.
Nuclear Arms Control on the Shenzhen Agenda
Discussions will center on global atomic arsenals after the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the U.S. and Russia expired earlier this year, while China continues a rapid buildup of its nuclear inventory. U.S. officials cautioned that the talks serve as an initial diplomatic opening rather than a finalized pact.
“Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are planning to meet on the sidelines of a summit in China next week, the White House has said. The historic meeting between the respective leaders of the US, Russia and China will take place as Trump attends the Asia-Pacific Economic…
The President has made it clear that, among other topics, he will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world, whose proliferation President Trump believes is very dangerous.
Olivia Wales, White House spokesperson, via The New York Times
Senior U.S. administration officials told reporters that “we do not expect to get to any kind of agreement,” describing the summit as “the entry point, the first conversation” at the leader level.
Russia's War in Ukraine Remains Excluded from Trilateral Sessions
While Iran’s conflict will be raised during the trilateral session, officials clarified that Russia’s war in Ukraine will not be addressed in this format, maintaining that a separate diplomatic track exists for Kyiv in which China does not participate.
⚡️Trump, Putin to discuss Ukraine peace settlement during meeting in China, Kremlin says. "Naturally, during the planned meeting with him at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, we will continue to discuss the full range of issues related to the settlement."https://t.co/59TYzIdtci
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other observers expressed unease that major powers might negotiate security arrangements without their participation, drawing comparisons to the 1945 Yalta Conference.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “any agreements reached in Shenzhen cannot be imposed on others,” while characterizing the summit as extremely significant.
Trump Concludes Asia Trip with Meetings in Manila and Shenzhen
The trilateral sit-down concludes Trump’s Asia trip, which includes stops in Manila for multilateral security talks and a bilateral meeting and working lunch with Xi in Shenzhen. Billionaire Elon Musk will accompany Trump on the trip , though officials confirmed Musk will not participate in official trilateral discussions.
With news of the Trump-Xi-Putin trilateral meeting at APEC confirmed, re-upping this series of short essays by Brookings colleagues and myself previewing the meeting/implications. My expectation is symbolism will serve as the substance of this meeting. https://t.co/mbsf8rOjo8 pic.twitter.com/BRiHG2MRfu
More on White House
"US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed on Wednesday on the importance of leader-level talks to advance peace and denuclearisation, including in any trilateral summit with Russia, the US State Department said." https://t.co/zVhMxzaVlS
