The leaders of the United States, China and Russia are scheduled to hold an unprecedented three-way meeting next Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China.
The White House confirmed the planned meeting on Friday, while the Kremlin announced it on Saturday, bringing together US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The gathering will mark the first joint meeting involving the leaders of the world’s three biggest nuclear powers. However, analysts say expectations for major breakthroughs remain low, suggesting the meeting could carry greater symbolic significance than practical outcomes.
The planned summit comes at a complicated moment in relations between the three countries, with Washington maintaining separate engagements with Beijing and Moscow despite significant disagreements.
Trump has strengthened his relationship with Xi following a truce in their trade dispute last year, despite differences over the US war with Iran and other tensions between the two economic powers.
He has also sought to improve ties with Putin, even as Russia continues its nearly five-year war against Ukraine and deepens its military, intelligence and diplomatic partnership with Iran.
The US president has said the meeting would provide an opportunity to discuss the war with Iran and his ambition to reach a three-way agreement on nuclear weapons stockpiles.
However, a senior US official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said Trump intends to discuss the Iran war with Xi and Putin but will avoid raising the Ukraine conflict.
The meeting also comes months after the expiration of the last nuclear arms control agreement between Washington and Moscow.
The New START treaty expired in February, removing restrictions on the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than half a century.
Before its expiration, Russia had proposed extending the agreement for another year, but Trump rejected the proposal, calling instead for “a new, improved and modernized” deal that would include China.
The US official said the planned meeting was intended to mark the “beginning of hopefully a conversation” on nuclear disarmament that could produce constructive discussions in the future.
However, the official added that no agreements were expected to be announced at the meeting.
China’s participation in any nuclear arms agreement remains uncertain, given the significant difference between its nuclear stockpile and those of the United States and Russia.
According to Pentagon estimates, China possesses more than 600 nuclear warheads, compared with more than 5,000 each held by the United States and Russia.
Beijing has shown little interest in negotiating a nuclear arms control agreement, with its arsenal considerably smaller than those of the other two powers.
Acknowledging the difficulty of securing China’s participation, the US official described the proposed meeting as an opportunity for Beijing to “step up … to the adult table” on an issue of international importance.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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