ع
The White House confirmed Friday that President Donald Trump will conclude his visit to China with a joint meeting alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, marking the first gathering of the three leaders. White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told reporters that among other topics Trump will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world, whose proliferation he believes is very dangerous. A senior US official characterized the session as an entry point and the first conversation at the leader level between the three countries, adding that no agreement is expected to emerge from the talks. Officials described the meeting as the beginning of what they hope will become a productive dialogue on arms control.
Trump plans to raise the situation in Iran during the trilateral discussion but will steer clear of addressing Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to the senior official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. The official noted that negotiations on Ukraine follow a separate track involving direct US engagements with Moscow and Kyiv in which China has no role. Trump and Xi are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting and working lunch before the three-way session with Putin takes place.
The last nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia, known as New START, expired in February without a replacement, according to US officials. Trump rejected a Russian proposal to extend the pact for another year and instead called for a new modernized deal that includes China. Officials said China has been rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal, a development that has added urgency to Trump’s push for trilateral talks on non-proliferation.
Trump will arrive in the southern Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen late Wednesday for the two-day APEC leaders’ meeting that gathers representatives from 21 member economies. The trilateral encounter will serve as the final event on the president’s Asia itinerary, which also includes stops in the Philippines for the ASEAN summit and related gatherings. Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk will accompany Trump for parts of the China visit because of his business interests there, though he will not attend any of the leaders’ meetings, officials said.
Neither Beijing nor Moscow had publicly confirmed their participation in the trilateral format as of Friday evening, even as the White House detailed the schedule and priorities. Trump had previewed the gathering earlier this month when he told reporters that one of the meetings would involve Putin and Xi and that it would cover a lot of things including denuclearization. The development follows months of behind-the-scenes coordination among the three capitals to arrange the unprecedented sit-down on the APEC sidelines.
US officials have played down expectations for immediate breakthroughs on nuclear issues while stressing the symbolic importance of bringing the three nuclear powers together for the first time. The meeting occurs against the backdrop of heightened global concerns over atomic arsenals at a time when arms control frameworks have lapsed. Wales reiterated in the announcement that the president views unchecked nuclear proliferation as a significant danger requiring direct leader-level attention.
