The presidents of the United States, Russia and China are planning a joint meeting next week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, the White House has said.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told reporters that Donald Trump would conclude his China visit with a meeting involving Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. She said Trump would raise, among other topics, the reduction of nuclear weapons, whose spread he considers very dangerous. Iran may also come up, but the war in Ukraine is not expected to be discussed. A senior US official said no agreement was expected from the talks.
Russia has confirmed the meeting. China has not publicly confirmed the three-way format. A spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington said Beijing was in communication with the relevant parties and had nothing to share for now. Chinese officials have said Xi will hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit.
Trump is due in Shenzhen late on Wednesday for the two-day summit of 21 economies and will hold bilateral talks with Xi on Thursday. Before that, he will attend a summit of the Association of South-east Asian Nations in the Philippines on Tuesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said suggestions on a possible agenda are being exchanged.
Nuclear arms in focus
The last nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia expired in February, leaving the two largest arsenals without agreed limits. Trump has called for a new deal that includes China. Washington and Moscow each hold more than 5,000 warheads, while China’s arsenal is far smaller, though growing. Analysts say Beijing has shown little interest in such a pact.
Analyst Edgard Kagan said he would be surprised if any joint statement came out of the meeting mentioning denuclearisation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he does not want the meeting to become a repeat of the 1945 Yalta Conference, with spheres of influence redistributed without smaller countries at the table.
