The President of the United States, Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to hold a joint meeting in China next week, the White House has announced.
The trilateral meeting between the leaders of the world’s three major powers is expected to take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, southern China, BBC reports, as cited by Dukagjini.
White House spokesperson Olivia Wales confirmed that Trump will conclude his visit to China with a meeting involving his Russian and Chinese counterparts.
“President Trump has made it clear that, among other topics, he will discuss reducing the world’s nuclear weapons stockpiles, the proliferation of which President Trump considers extremely dangerous,” Wales stated.
According to reports, discussions may also cover Iran, while the issue of Ukraine is not expected to feature on the agenda.
However, a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press and Reuters, said that no agreement is expected to emerge from the talks.
Trump is expected to arrive in Shenzhen on Wednesday evening, where he will attend the two-day APEC summit, which brings together 21 member economies. On Thursday, he is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping.
This would mark the fourth meeting between Trump and the Chinese president since the US president returned to the White House in 2025.
The planned meeting comes at a time when nuclear arms control has once again become a major international concern. In February, the nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expired, leaving the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals without the key restrictions established under the agreement.
The United Nations has urged both countries to establish a new framework without delay. Trump, meanwhile, has stated that the agreement could be replaced with a better one that would also include China.
However, bringing Beijing into such an agreement is considered challenging, as China continues to expand its nuclear arsenal.
Meanwhile, relations between Moscow and Beijing have strengthened since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. China has become one of Russia’s main trading partners as Moscow continues to face Western sanctions.
On the other hand, relations between Washington and Beijing remain marked by disagreements over trade, competition for dominance in artificial intelligence, and the issue of Taiwan.
The war in Iran is another sensitive issue, as China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil and Tehran’s leading trading partner.
The Kremlin had previously signalled the possibility of such a meeting. Earlier this month, its spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said there were “signals confirming readiness” for talks on the sidelines of the summit.
