United States President, Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are planning to hold a historic trilateral meeting in China next week, the White House has said.
The meeting is expected to take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Shenzhen, southern China, as the three leaders seek to discuss issues affecting global security.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said Trump would use the meeting to discuss nuclear weapons reduction, amid concerns over the growing proliferation of nuclear arsenals worldwide.
“The president has made it clear that, among other topics, he will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world, whose proliferation President Trump believes is very dangerous,” she said.
Iran is also expected to feature in the discussions, although Ukraine is not on the agenda, according to reports.
Moscow and Beijing have yet to officially comment on the planned meeting.
A senior US official, who spoke anonymously, said no agreement was expected to emerge from the talks, according to news agencies AP and Reuters.
Trump is expected to arrive in Shenzhen late Wednesday for the two-day summit involving 21 member states.
He will also hold bilateral talks with Xi on Thursday, marking their fourth meeting since the US president returned to office in 2025.
“President Trump will conclude his visit to China with a trilateral meeting between the president of the United States, the president of the People’s Republic of China, and the president of the Russian Federation,” Wales said.
She added that Trump’s trip, which would also include attendance at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in the Philippines on Tuesday, would “secure historic wins to the American people and advance America’s interests in the Indo Pacific”.
The proposed meeting comes months after a nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia expired in February, leaving the world’s largest nuclear arsenals without major restrictions.
The United Nations has urged both countries to establish a new framework without delay. Trump, however, has suggested replacing the expired agreement with a broader deal involving China, which has been expanding its nuclear arsenal.
Former US officials and analysts previously told the BBC that securing cooperation from Beijing and Moscow could present significant challenges and take years to achieve.
China has maintained close ties with Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Beijing emerging as a crucial trading partner amid Western sanctions against Russia.
Meanwhile, Trump’s recent decisions, including a controversial US deal to import Russian diesel and the suspension of sanctions targeting major buyers of Russian oil and gas, including China, have raised concerns in Europe over Washington’s approach to Moscow.
Relations between Trump and Xi have also shown signs of improvement, with both leaders seeking to project warmer ties during meetings in Beijing and Washington this year.
However, significant disagreements remain over trade, artificial intelligence competition and Taiwan.
The Iran conflict has also complicated relations, with China serving as Tehran’s largest oil buyer and biggest trading partner.
Chinese state media reported on Friday that Xi would participate in bilateral talks on the sidelines of the APEC summit, citing a foreign ministry spokesman, but did not mention the proposed trilateral meeting.
Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media that there were “signals confirming readiness” for such talks at the summit.
