US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will hold their first three-way summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China. The White House assistant press secretary confirmed the upcoming talks in an announcement.
The meeting in Shenzhen, China’s tech hub, comes nine months after the final nuclear arms treaty between Washington and Moscow expired. That lapse left the two nations with the largest atomic arsenals without any caps for the first time in over fifty years.
Trump stated that the gathering provides an opportunity for all three nations to reach an agreement on nuclear stockpiles. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty lapsed in February. Trump subsequently rejected a Russian proposal to extend the pact for another year, demanding a new, improved and modernized deal that also encompasses China.
Expectations for an immediate breakthrough are modest. A senior Trump administration official told reporters that they do not expect to reach any kind of agreement, describing the upcoming talks as simply the start of a conversation.
Stockpile data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows that Russia holds the largest inventory of nuclear warheads. The United States follows in second place, and China holds the third-largest stockpile.
Alongside nuclear issues, Trump plans to discuss the Iran war with Xi and Putin. A senior US official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity said that Trump will steer away from discussing Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Billionaire Elon Musk will travel to China alongside Trump for the trip, though the official clarified that Musk will not attend the actual trilateral meeting. Trump is also not expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his journey to Asia.
The planned summit has drawn comparisons to the 1945 Yalta Conference, where leaders of the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union shaped the post-war global order. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed that parallel, stating that any agreements reached in Shenzhen cannot be imposed on other nations. Even so, Peskov described the meeting as extremely significant.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced concern that the gathering could become a platform to negotiate a deal concerning Ukraine behind Kyiv’s back. Trump has pursued closer ties with both the Chinese and Russian leaders despite a brief trade war with China last year and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, where Washington is attempting to mediate a solution.
