Trump, Xi and Putin to hold first three-way summit in China
US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are set to hold an unprecedented trilateral meeting next week on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China. According to the White House, the discussions will focus on nuclear stockpiles and the Iran war. A senior US official noted that Trump intends to steer away from the war in Ukraine during the talks. While Elon Musk will accompany Trump to China, he will not attend the session, and Trump is not expected to meet North Korea's Kim Jong Un during the trip.
The meeting takes place nine months after the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) lapsed in February, leaving Washington and Moscow without limits on their atomic arsenals for the first time in more than 50 years. Trump rejected a Russian offer to extend the accord, demanding a modernized deal that includes China, which holds the third-largest warhead stockpile after Russia and the US.
Administration officials expect no formal pact, framing the talks as the start of a broader dialogue. Although the summit has drawn comparisons to the 1945 Yalta Conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the parallel while calling the encounter "extremely significant." Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed concern that the three powers might negotiate a Ukraine agreement behind Kyiv's back.
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