Trump, Putin, Xi to hold first-ever trilateral meeting at APEC Summit in China next week

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said the first-of-its-kind meeting between the US, Russian and Chinese presidents would be held on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, which Trump is scheduled to attend.

In Short

• Nuclear arms control expected to dominate discussions
• Iran war likely to feature, while Ukraine stays off agenda
• Trump will meet Xi separately during the APEC summit

US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to hold the first-ever trilateral meeting in China next week, with nuclear arms control expected to dominate the discussions.

The White House on Friday confirmed that the leaders of the world's three biggest nuclear powers will meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen.

Trump has repeatedly called for discussions on reducing nuclear arsenals, but Washington has played down expectations of an immediate breakthrough, describing the proposed engagement as the beginning of a longer conversation.

"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," White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told reporters.

Wales said Trump would push for a reduction in the global nuclear arsenal, which he considers a serious threat.

"He will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world, whose proliferation President Trump believes is very dangerous," she said.

However, the proposed talks could prove challenging, given Beijing's longstanding reluctance to negotiate directly with Washington on its nuclear arsenal. China has maintained that arms reduction discussions should primarily involve the US and Russia, which possess significantly larger stockpiles.

A senior US administration official acknowledged the difficulty, saying Washington hoped the meeting would pave the way for more substantive discussions rather than produce an immediate agreement.

"This is a difficult topic for China to address, but we do think it's time for China to sort of step up, you know, to the adults' table, if you will, and have adult conversations about adult things," the official said.

IRAN ON TABLE, UKRAINE OFF IT

The ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran is also expected to feature in the discussions, the US official said. However, Russia's war in Ukraine is unlikely to be raised.

Washington believes Beijing is not directly involved in its discussions with Moscow on the Ukraine conflict and, therefore, considers the trilateral platform unsuitable for taking up the issue.

"We've had many meetings recently with the Russians, but China is not really a part of that track, so it doesn't seem appropriate to have the Ukraine discussion there," the official said.

Trump is also not expected to hold a separate bilateral meeting with Putin during the visit. Discussions on Ukraine's access to satellite communications services provided by Elon Musk's SpaceX are also unlikely, despite the company's chief executive accompanying the US President on the trip.

Musk, however, will not attend the meeting between Trump, Putin and Xi.

The proposed engagement comes amid renewed concerns over global nuclear security, particularly following the expiry of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between Washington and Moscow earlier this year.

Russia has the world's largest stockpile of stored nuclear warheads, followed by the United States and China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

A discussion involving all three countries could mark a significant step towards reviving global nuclear arms control efforts, even if an immediate agreement remains unlikely.

TRUMP TO MEET XI IN CHINA

Trump is scheduled to leave for Asia on Monday. His itinerary includes an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in the Philippines on Tuesday, followed by his arrival in Shenzhen late Wednesday.

He will attend the two-day APEC summit, which brings together 21 member economies, and hold a separate bilateral meeting with Xi on Thursday. It will be their fourth meeting since Trump returned to the White House in 2025.

Wales said the broader Asia trip was aimed at securing what she described as "historic wins" for Americans while advancing Washington's interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

The announcement comes amid a series of high-level engagements between the three leaders. Xi hosted Putin and Trump separately in Beijing just days apart earlier this year, while Trump welcomed the Chinese President to Washington in September.

Moscow had also indicated that a trilateral meeting was under consideration. Earlier this month, Russian state news agency TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying there were "signals confirming readiness" for the talks.

While Chinese state media has reported that Xi will hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the APEC summit, Beijing has yet to publicly confirm the proposed trilateral engagement.

Neither Moscow nor Beijing has officially commented on the White House announcement.

- Ends