The White House has announced that Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping intend to meet on the sidelines of a summit in China next week.
According to spokeswoman Olivia Wales, the landmark gathering of the US, Russian, and Chinese leaders will happen while Trump is in the southern city of Shenzhen for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
She stated, “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.”
Sources indicate that Iran could also come up during the meeting of the world’s biggest nuclear powers, though Ukraine is not expected to be on the agenda. There has been no comment yet from Moscow or Beijing.
A senior American official, who was not named, told news agencies AP and Reuters that no agreement was anticipated as a result of the talks.
Trump is due to land in Shenzhen late on Wednesday for the two-day summit of the 21 member states. On Thursday he will also hold bilateral talks with Xi the fourth time the two have met since the US president took office again in 2025.
“President Trump will conclude his visit to China with a trilateral meeting between the president of the United States, the president of the People’s Republic of China, and the president of the Russian Federation,” Wales said.
She said Trump’s trip, which will also involve attending an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in the Philippines on Tuesday, would “secure historic wins for the American people and advance America’s interests in the Indo-Pacific.”
A treaty controlling nuclear weapons between the US and Russia lapsed in February, leaving the world’s largest nuclear arsenals without significant safeguards and effectively bringing to an end the arms control cooperation that had helped resolve the Cold War.
The UN has called on both sides to agree on a new framework without delay. Trump, however, said he could replace the deal with a better agreement that included China, which has been expanding its arsenal.
Former senior US officials and analysts told the BBC at the time that securing Beijing and Moscow’s co-operation could present major obstacles and take years.
