In a moment when the old scaffolding of nuclear restraint between the great powers has quietly come down, a White House announcement suggests the three leaders of the world's most heavily armed states may sit together at the edge of a regional summit in Shenzhen. The stated purpose is the reduction of nuclear arsenals, a subject made urgent since the New START treaty lapsed in February and left the largest stockpiles on earth without binding limits for the first time in decades. Yet no one expects an agreement, and Moscow and Beijing have not yet spoken, so the encounter may matter more as a g
Trump, Putin and Xi Plan Historic Trilateral Meeting on Sidelines of China Summit
The world's biggest nuclear arsenals now have no major guardrails.
Mark
Why does a meeting with no expected deal matter so much?
Mimi
Because these three have never been announced as sitting down together like this. The US and Russia lost their last major arms treaty in February, so even a conversation is a change from the current silence.
Luke
Careful, though. The only source for the meeting is the White House so far. Moscow and Beijing haven't confirmed it.
Mark
Is there any hint from the other side?
Mimi
Tass quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying there were signals confirming readiness for such talks. Chinese state media only mentioned bilateral talks with Xi.
Luke
Right, and readiness for talks isn't the same as agreeing to this format. China's silence on the trilateral is a real gap.
Mark
Why is China the sticking point on arms control?
Mimi
Trump wants a better deal that includes China, which has been building up its arsenal. Analysts told the BBC earlier it could take years.
Luke
And the senior US official saying no agreement is expected is unnamed. It's a useful signal, but it's one anonymous voice relayed through AP and Reuters.
Mark
What about Iran and Ukraine?
Mimi
Iran may come up, by understanding. Ukraine is not expected to. China buys the most Iranian oil, so that topic has friction built in.
Luke
'It is understood' means no one has put their name to it. We don't know what would actually be said on Iran.
The Pulse
- A White House announcement of a rare three-way meeting between Trump, Putin and Xi has jolted diplomatic circles that had not expected such a gathering.
- With the New START treaty expired in February, the world's two largest arsenals now operate without major limits, and the pressure to act is mounting.
- Washington has floated the idea of a replacement deal that brings China in, while Beijing, which is expanding its arsenal, remains silent.
- Moscow and Beijing have not confirmed the trilateral, and no agreement is expected, leaving the meeting's fate and its value uncertain.
In a moment when the old scaffolding of nuclear restraint between the great powers has quietly come down, a White House announcement suggests the three leaders of the world's most heavily armed states may sit together at the edge of a regional summit in Shenzhen. The stated purpose is the reduction of nuclear arsenals, a subject made urgent since the New START treaty lapsed in February and left the largest stockpiles on earth without binding limits for the first time in decades. Yet no one expects an agreement, and Moscow and Beijing have not yet spoken, so the encounter may matter more as a gesture of presence than as a settlement.
The White House has said that Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping plan to meet together next week in Shenzhen, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Spokeswoman Olivia Wales described the gathering as historic, saying the agenda would include cutting the world's nuclear weapons, which Trump considers very dangerous. A senior American official told reporters that no agreement is expected.
The schedule around it is dense. Trump arrives in Shenzhen late Wednesday, will hold bilateral talks with Xi on Thursday, and will close his China visit with the trilateral session, after a stop in the Philippines for a regional summit. Neither Moscow nor Beijing has confirmed the meeting, though Chinese state media has reported a Xi bilateral and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has spoken of signals of readiness for talks.
The stakes are real. The US-Russia arms treaty expired in February, ending an arms control partnership that helped close the Cold War. The United Nations has urged a new framework without delay, and Trump has suggested a better deal that includes China. Analysts warn that bringing Beijing and Moscow into such an agreement could take years.
The three leaders have met often this year, but tensions linger over trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan, Ukraine and Iran. Watchers will look for whether Moscow and Beijing confirm the meeting and whether China shows any willingness to join an arms framework. With no deal expected, the meeting itself may be the main event.
The announcement came from the White House podium: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping plan to sit down together next week in southern China. Spokeswoman Olivia Wales told reporters the three-way meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, and she described it as historic. It would bring together the leaders of the world's three most powerful nuclear states.
Wales said the agenda would include, among other topics, cutting the world's nuclear weapons, whose spread she said Trump considers very dangerous. It is understood that Iran may also come up. Ukraine, by contrast, is not expected to be on the table. A senior American official, who was not named, told AP and Reuters that no agreement was expected to come out of the talks.
The schedule is already full. Trump is due to reach Shenzhen late on Wednesday for the two-day summit of APEC's 21 member states. On Thursday he will hold bilateral talks with Xi, their fourth meeting since Trump returned to office in 2025. According to Wales, the trilateral session will close out his visit to China. Before that, on Tuesday, he will attend a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Philippines. She said the trip would secure historic wins for the American people and advance US interests in the Indo-Pacific.
Neither Moscow nor Beijing has confirmed the meeting. Chinese state media reported on Friday that Xi would take part in bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit, citing a foreign ministry spokesman, but it has not mentioned a trilateral. Earlier this month, Russia's state news agency Tass quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying there were signals confirming readiness for such talks at the summit.
The nuclear subject carries real weight at the moment. A nuclear weapons control treaty between the US and Russia expired in February. That left the two largest arsenals in the world without major limits for the first time in decades, and effectively ended the arms control cooperation that helped bring the Cold War to a close. The United Nations has urged both sides to agree a new framework without delay. Trump has said he could replace the old deal with a better one that includes China, which has been expanding its arsenal. Former senior US officials and analysts told the BBC when the treaty lapsed that winning Beijing's and Moscow's cooperation could run into major obstacles and take years.
The three leaders have crossed paths often this year. Xi hosted both Putin and Trump in Beijing, just days apart, and welcomed by Trump to Washington in September. Beijing has become a crucial trading partner for Moscow since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which left Russia isolated and under Western sanctions.
Washington's own posture toward Russia has drawn scrutiny. Last month a controversial US deal to import Russian diesel, together with the suspension of sanctions on the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas, China among them, heightened European concern that the Trump administration was softening toward the Kremlin.
With Beijing, Trump and Xi have projected warmer relations at their summits in Beijing and Washington. Little significant progress appeared to have been made, though, on trade, the race for dominance in artificial intelligence, or Taiwan. The war in Iran is another sticking point, since China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil and Tehran's biggest trading partner.
What to watch now is whether Moscow and Beijing publicly confirm the trilateral, and whether China shows any willingness to join a new arms framework. With no agreement expected, the meeting itself may be the main event.
Notable Quotes
The president will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world, whose proliferation he believes is very dangerous.— Olivia Wales, White House spokeswoman
There were signals confirming readiness for such talks at the summit.— Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, as reported by Tass
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