Trump, Xi and Putin to Meet in Shenzhen on November 19 in First-Ever Three-Way Summit
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump will sit down with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in Shenzhen on Thursday, November 19, the White House confirmed on Friday, in the first three-way meeting of the leaders of the world’s three largest nuclear powers.
The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which China is hosting in the southern technology hub of Shenzhen on November 18 and 19. White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told reporters that Trump “will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world,” adding that the president believes nuclear proliferation is “very dangerous.”
A senior administration official was blunt about expectations, telling reporters that the talks are not expected to produce an agreement. The session is instead being described as an entry point — a first conversation that could, in time, lead to negotiations on a new arms-control framework between the three countries.
Nuclear arms at the centre
The last treaty limiting the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia, New START, expired in February, leaving the world’s two largest nuclear powers without a binding cap for the first time in decades. China, which has been expanding its own arsenal, has never been party to a bilateral arms-control treaty with either country.
Trump has spoken repeatedly about his ambition for a three-way deal covering all three arsenals. Speaking to reporters on November 8, he hinted at the plan, saying: “One of the meetings, I think, will be with President Putin and President Xi, and that’ll be interesting.”
The three leaders have met in pairs many times, but they have never held formal talks together. The White House described the planned session as a first for the three leaders.
Iran on the agenda, Ukraine off it
A senior US official said Trump also intends to raise the war in Iran with both Xi and Putin during the meeting. The United States has been at war with Iran since the autumn, and Washington has pressed Beijing and Moscow over their dealings with Tehran.
Russia’s war in Ukraine, however, will not be discussed at the trilateral, the official said. That drew a mixed response: Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday that discussion of “the entire range of issues related to the settlement” of Ukraine would continue at the APEC summit, according to the Kyiv Post, suggesting the three sides do not yet fully agree on what the meeting is for.
No joint announcement has been issued by the three governments, and Beijing had not formally confirmed the trilateral meeting when the White House announcement landed on Friday.
A summit that overshadows APEC itself
China is hosting the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting under the theme “Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together,” with Xi chairing the gathering of the forum’s 21 member economies. A CEO summit runs on November 17 and 18, ahead of the leaders’ sessions.
Trump leaves Washington on Monday, November 16, for a four-day Asia trip that begins in the Philippines before he travels on to China. Other leaders expected in Shenzhen include Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who will visit China for the first time since taking office.
The trilateral is expected to overshadow the APEC summit itself. Whether it produces anything beyond a photograph will only become clear once the three men are in the same room — and, as US officials have stressed, the first test is whether the meeting happens in the form announced at all.
