Trump plans trilateral meeting with Putin and Xi in Shenzhen

Agenda excludes Ukraine talks

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales confirmed the leaders will gather on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. A senior US official stated that President Trump intends to discuss reducing global nuclear weapons proliferation during this trilateral meeting. The same official added that Washington maintains a separate negotiation track with Kyiv and Moscow regarding the war in Ukraine. China is not part of those specific negotiations, so discussing Ukraine there would be inappropriate according to the administration.

Historic nuclear disarmament focus

The meeting marks the first time leaders from the United States, Russia and China will convene together. In February, a pact on nuclear arms limits between Russia and the US ended, removing safeguards from large stockpiles. President Trump believes current proliferation is very dangerous and wants to replace the expired deal with a new framework including China. This summit follows bilateral talks where Xi hosted both leaders in Beijing just days apart earlier this year.

Yalta comparison concerns rise

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has raised alarms that the gathering could resemble a redistribution of spheres of influence. The 1945 Yalta summit saw Franklin D Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin settle post-war boundaries in Europe. Beijing remains a crucial trading partner for Moscow since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. European concern has grown over recent US deals to import Russian diesel and suspend sanctions on major oil buyers.