Trump to meet Xi and Putin for nuclear arms discussions in Shenzhen
US President Donald Trump is expected to press Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss reducing nuclear arsenals when they meet in Shenzhen next week. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and would be the first gathering of its kind. White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said Trump considers the proliferation of nuclear weapons highly dangerous.
The talks are unlikely to produce a deal. A senior US official told Reuters that Washington does not expect any agreement, describing the issue as especially difficult for China. Beijing has consistently rejected calls to join trilateral nuclear negotiations, arguing that the United States and Russia possess much larger arsenals and should negotiate directly. China’s Foreign Ministry said in October that involving it at this stage would be neither fair, reasonable nor realistic. Chinese state media have referred to Xi’s planned bilateral meetings without mentioning a three-way session, while Moscow and Beijing have not publicly commented on the White House announcement.
Trump is also expected to raise the US-Israeli war against Iran, but not Ukraine. The discussions come after the US-Russia New START treaty expired in February, leaving the world’s largest nuclear arsenals without major limits. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says Russia has the most stored warheads, followed by the United States and China. Trump is due to leave Monday for a four-day Asia trip that includes a stop in the Philippines.
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