The leaders of the United States, China and Russia will meet during the APEC summit in Shenzhen to discuss nuclear arms and the war in Iran.
President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Shenzhen, China, next week for an unprecedented three-way summit between the leaders of the world’s largest nuclear powers. White House spokesperson Olivia Wales announced Friday night that Trump will conclude his visit to China with the trilateral session on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, NBC News reported.
The White House confirmed Trump intends to address the reduction of nuclear arsenals and the war in Iran with both leaders. However, the leaders won’t discuss the war in Ukraine during the three-way meeting, according to an administration official who stated that Ukraine negotiations follow a separate track that does not involve China.
U.S. officials stressed that no formal agreement is anticipated from the gathering. “We do not expect to get to any kind of agreement,” a senior Trump administration official told the Reuters news agency, according to Al Jazeera, describing the Shenzhen meeting as the start of a conversation and an entry point on atomic weapons.
Nuclear arms and the war in Iran
The talks will take place nine months after the New START treaty expired in February, ending limits on the American and Russian atomic arsenals for the first time in more than 50 years. When the pact lapsed, Trump rejected a Russian proposal to extend the bilateral agreement for another year and called for an updated treaty that incorporates China.
“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,” Wales said.
Pentagon estimates put China’s arsenal at more than 600 warheads, compared with more than 5,000 warheads held by the United States and Russia each. Stockpiles documented by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute place Russia first, the United States second and China third. Because its stockpile remains far smaller than those of Washington and Moscow, Beijing hasn’t shown interest in a trilateral arms accord.
The planned summit has drawn comparisons to the 1945 Yalta Conference, where American, British and Soviet leaders met to decide the postwar order. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected that comparison, arguing that agreements made in Shenzhen cannot be imposed on other countries, though he called the gathering extremely significant. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed concern that the three leaders could use the summit to discuss a Ukraine settlement behind Kyiv’s back.
Past ties between the three leaders
All three heads of state have met one-on-one repeatedly over the years. Putin and Xi have held more than 40 meetings since Xi became president in 2013, addressing each other as dear friends and announcing a “no-limits friendship” shortly before Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine in 2022. While Beijing maintains that it’s neutral in the war, it has accused Western nations of provoking Moscow and has stepped up purchases of Russian energy while supplying high-tech components to Russian industry. Moscow has steadily backed China’s claims regarding Taiwan.
Trump and Putin have met face-to-face seven times, most recently in Alaska in August 2025. Trump recently reached a diesel agreement with Moscow that waived sanctions to permit shipments of millions of tons of Russian fuel. Trump and Xi have met in person eight times, including a September state visit to Washington by the Chinese leader.
Schedule and summit preparations
Trump will travel first to the Philippines on Tuesday to attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering, BBC News reported. He will arrive in Shenzhen late on Wednesday for the two-day APEC summit.
On Thursday, Trump will hold one-on-one talks with Xi before closing out his trip with the trilateral session. Trump has no bilateral meeting scheduled with Putin, but the two leaders will attend events and the trilateral summit together. U.S. officials also stated that Trump won’t meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the journey.
Elon Musk will join Trump’s delegation as the only business executive, though officials said he won’t participate in any official meetings or the trilateral gathering. In addition, U.S. officials said Trump won’t raise an ongoing espionage investigation involving alleged Chinese agent Alice Huang and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang. Officials noted that export controls are developed internally as national security policies and won’t be negotiated with Beijing in Shenzhen.
