Trump, Putin and Xi to Hold First U.S.-China-Russia Trilateral in Shenzhen
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President Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, with the White House framing the talks around nuclear arms reduction and other security issues that could reshape global power politics.
President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on Thursday, Nov. 19, according to a White House spokesperson. The three-way summit, described as the first of its kind, will address the reduction of nuclear arsenals, a priority highlighted by the White House in an era of mounting geopolitical danger.
"The president has made it clear that, among other topics, he will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world. This proliferation, President Trump believes, is very dangerous," White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said, underscoring the stakes of a meeting involving three of the world’s most powerful leaders.
U.S. officials indicated that the discussion will also include the situation in Iran, but will not cover Russia's war in Ukraine, noting that China is not a participant in the separate track of negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow. The decision reflects the narrow, highly managed scope of the talks rather than any broader effort to confront the war directly.
A senior U.S. official, speaking anonymously, added that the United States has a "whole other track" of talks with Ukraine and Russia and that it would be inappropriate to raise the Ukraine conflict at the trilateral meeting. The arrangement keeps one of the world’s deadliest conflicts at arm’s length while the leaders focus on their own strategic interests.
The president will also hold a bilateral working lunch with President Xi, marking their fourth meeting since Trump returned to office. Export-control issues on advanced chip technology are not expected to be on the agenda, according to the same official, despite the enormous economic and technological rivalry that continues to define U.S.-China relations.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, will travel to China with the president but will not take part in the trilateral talks. After departing Washington on Monday, Trump will travel to the Philippines for an ASEAN summit before arriving in Shenzhen, highlighting the tightly packed schedule of a presidency once again centered on high-stakes diplomacy.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed comparisons to the 1945 Yalta Conference, emphasizing that any agreements reached in Shenzhen would be based on mutual benefit and respect rather than imposed visions of global order.