‘The first conversation’: Trump, Xi and Putin plan unprecedented three-way meeting at APEC
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin next week during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China. The meeting would bring together the leaders of the world's three largest nuclear powers for an unprecedented trilateral session.
According to the White House, the meeting will conclude Trump's trip to China, with nuclear weapons reduction among the key topics on the agenda. However, a senior US official said the administration does not expect any agreements to emerge from the session. Analysts told NBC News that the meeting carries more symbolic weight than immediate diplomatic significance.
What the White House says about the Trump, Putin and Xi meeting
Olivia Wales, a White House spokesperson, said 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.”
“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,” Olivia Wales, a White House spokesperson, said in a call with reporters Friday night.
“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.”
It is not anticipated that any sort of agreement will come from the trilateral meeting, according to a senior US official, who described the session as an “entry point” and “the first conversation,” pointing to the reduction of nuclear arsenals as a key topic.
“We do think it's time for China to sort of step up, you know, to the adults' table, if you will, and have adult conversations about adult things,” the senior US official said about the issue of nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons reduction and Iran war on the agenda
The last nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States expired in February, removing caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century.
When that treaty, known as New START, expired, Trump rejected a call by Russia to extend the two-country deal for another year and called for “a new, improved, and modernized” deal that includes China.
Trump plans to discuss the Iran war with both leaders, but not the war in Ukraine. A senior US official explained that discussions about Ukraine are on a separate track, one that does not involve China, so it would not make sense to bring it up here.
Trump's relationship with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin
Since settling their brief trade war last year, Trump has gone out of his way to embrace Xi, even though they still clash over Iran and other issues between the two economic giants.
Trump's approach to Putin has been similar. He has worked to strengthen their relationship despite Putin's ongoing war in Ukraine, which has dragged on for nearly five years, and Moscow's growing ties with Iran across military, intelligence and diplomatic fronts.
There is no one-on-one meeting with Putin on the agenda, but Trump and Putin will cross paths at several events and during the trilateral session, according to the official.
Trump will not meet with anyone from North Korea during this trip.
Elon Musk joins Trump's official delegation to China
One more detail about the delegation is that Elon Musk will be the only business leader in Trump's official group. Other US business leaders are expected to attend the summit, but they will be there independently and not as part of any official US delegation.
