From left: US President Donald Trump, China's President Xi Jinping and Russia's President Vladimir Putin [File: AP Photo]
Leaders of the United States, China and Russia are set to hold an unprecedented three-way meeting next week, the White House has said.
US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China’s tech hub, the White House assistant press secretary confirmed in an announcement.
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The talks will be held nine months after the last nuclear arms treaty between Washington and Moscow expired, leaving the world’s two countries with the largest atomic arsenals without caps for the first time in more than 50 years.
What’s on the agenda?
Trump has said the meeting is a chance for all three countries to reach a deal on nuclear stockpiles.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) lapsed in February. Trump then rejected Russia’s proposal to extend it for another year and demanded a “new, improved and modernized” deal that includes China.
Expectations are low. “We do not expect to get to any kind of agreement,” a senior Trump administration official told the Reuters news agency, describing the meeting as the start of a conversation.
Russia holds the most nuclear warheads, followed by the US, then China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Trump plans on discussing the Iran war with Xi and Putin, but will steer away from discussing Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to a senior US official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
Elon Musk will also travel with Trump to China but will not attend the meeting, the official added. Trump is also not expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the Asia trip.
Yalta Conference comparisons
The planned summit has drawn comparisons with the 1945 Yalta Conference, where the leaders of the US, Britain and the Soviet Union shaped the post-war order.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, dismissed the parallel, saying any agreements reached in Shenzhen cannot be imposed on others, but he still called the meeting “extremely significant”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced concern that the meeting could become a platform to discuss a Ukraine deal behind Kyiv’s back.
Trump has pursued closer ties with both leaders despite a short-lived trade war with China last year and Russia’s continuing war in Ukraine, where Washington is seeking to mediate a solution.