Three leaders who command the world's largest nuclear arsenals are preparing to sit down together for the first time, on the margins of a regional economic summit in Shenzhen, a city that has grown in a few decades from fishing village to engine of global technology. The gathering arrives at a fragile hour: the last treaty limiting American and Russian warheads has lapsed, wars in Ukraine and Iran continue to strain old alliances, and each man seeks something different from the encounter, whether prestige, leverage, or a legacy. Whether it produces a lasting bargain or only a memorable photogr
Trump, Xi and Putin Plan Unprecedented Three-Way Summit on APEC Sidelines in Shenzhen
An unprecedented gathering of the heads of the world's biggest nuclear powers
Mark
Why is this meeting such a big deal?
Mimi
Because it hasn't happened before. The leaders of the US, China and Russia, the biggest nuclear powers, plan to sit down together on the margins of APEC in Shenzhen, and the White House has confirmed it.
Mark
What's on the table?
Mimi
Trump says the Iran war and a three-way deal on nuclear stockpiles. New START expired in February, so the two largest arsenals have no caps for the first time in over fifty years.
Luke
Worth separating the plan from the outcome. What's confirmed is that a meeting is planned. Nothing here says an agreement is close.
Mark
Is China even interested in an arms pact?
Mimi
Not much, by the account here. Pentagon estimates put its arsenal at over 600 warheads against more than 5,000 each for the US and Russia.
Luke
And that 600 figure is a Pentagon estimate, not a number Beijing has confirmed. The same goes for the 5,000 figures.
Mark
Why would Xi and Putin want it?
Mimi
Xi may see a chance to show China's clout, and the Kremlin gets to look like an equal of Washington and Beijing.
Luke
Those are readings of motive. The reporting says Xi "may be calculating" it, so it's analysis, not anything the leaders have said.
Mark
And Ukraine?
Mimi
Zelenskyy fears a deal could be made behind Kyiv's back. Whether that's a real prospect, we don't yet know.
O Pulso
- The expiry of New START has removed the last caps on the two largest nuclear arsenals for the first time in over half a century.
- Trump, Xi and Putin are set to meet together in Shenzhen, a gathering with no precedent that threatens to overshadow the APEC summit itself.
- Beijing, holding far fewer warheads than Washington or Moscow, shows little appetite for a nuclear pact that would bind it.
- Kyiv fears being bargained over in a room it is not sitting in, while the Iran war and Russia's military ties to Tehran cloud every conversation.
- The outcome hangs on whether a trilateral arms framework can be forged at all, or whether the summit ends as spectacle without substance.
Three leaders who command the world's largest nuclear arsenals are preparing to sit down together for the first time, on the margins of a regional economic summit in Shenzhen, a city that has grown in a few decades from fishing village to engine of global technology. The gathering arrives at a fragile hour: the last treaty limiting American and Russian warheads has lapsed, wars in Ukraine and Iran continue to strain old alliances, and each man seeks something different from the encounter, whether prestige, leverage, or a legacy. Whether it produces a lasting bargain or only a memorable photograph, it will be read against the older history of great powers dividing the world over a conference table.
The White House has confirmed that Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin plan to meet together on the sidelines of next week's APEC summit in Shenzhen. No such gathering of the three has ever taken place, and together they lead the world's largest nuclear powers.
The meeting comes at an awkward moment. Trump has warmed to Xi since their trade truce, though the two still disagree sharply over the American war with Iran. Trump has also courted Putin, even as Russia grinds on in Ukraine and deepens its military and intelligence partnership with Tehran. Trump says he wants to discuss Iran and a new three-way agreement on nuclear stockpiles. The backdrop is New START's expiry in February, which ended the caps on the two biggest arsenals. Russia wanted a one-year extension; Trump instead demanded a fresh deal that includes China.
The arithmetic is stubborn. Beijing is estimated to hold more than 600 warheads, while the United States and Russia each hold over 5,000, so China has little interest in a pact that would tie its hands. For Xi, hosting is a chance to show China's rising stature. For the Kremlin, sitting alongside Washington and Beijing is a prize that presents Russia as a superpower. The trilateral may well eclipse the APEC gathering of 21 economies around it.
The three already know one another well through pairwise meetings, and Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, fears a deal could be struck behind his back. Historians have already drawn comparisons to Yalta in 1945, when the Allied leaders carved up postwar Germany and shaped the United Nations. The open questions are whether Shenzhen produces any framework for nuclear restraint among the three, and how Kyiv responds to the fear of being left out.
The White House has confirmed that Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin plan to meet together on the sidelines of next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, the coastal Chinese city that has become a global technology and economic hub within a few decades. No gathering of the three leaders has happened before, and they head the world's biggest nuclear powers.
The meeting comes at an awkward moment in each of the relationships involved. Trump has embraced Xi warmly since the two reached a truce in their short-lived trade war last year, even though the two countries remain at odds over the US war with Iran and other tensions between the leading economic powers. Trump has also worked to build ties with Putin, although the Russian leader has kept up his nearly five-year-old war in Ukraine and Moscow has deepened its military, intelligence and diplomatic partnership with Iran.
Trump has said the meeting would give the three men a chance to discuss the Iran war and his goal of a three-way agreement on nuclear arms stockpiles. The backdrop is the expiry in February of New START, the last nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States. Its lapse removed caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century. Russia had urged extending the deal for another year, but Trump rejected that and called for "a new, improved and modernised" agreement that includes China.
The arithmetic complicates that ambition. Pentagon estimates put Beijing's arsenal at more than 600 warheads, while the US and Russia are each estimated to hold more than 5,000. With its stockpile so much smaller, China has shown little interest in negotiating a nuclear pact.
Each host and guest may see something different in the occasion. By agreeing to host, Xi may be calculating that it lets him show off China's growing clout and prestige. For the Kremlin, the meeting is a coveted chance to present Russia as a superpower on par with Washington and Beijing. The trilateral could well overshadow the APEC summit itself, which is bringing together 21 economies in Shenzhen.
The leaders know one another from pairwise meetings. Putin and Xi have met more than 40 times since Xi became president in 2013 and address each other as "dear friend." Trump and Putin have met face to face seven times, most recently in Alaska in August 2025. Trump and Xi have held eight in-person talks, including a state visit by Xi to Washington in September.
China's role toward Russia is part of the context. As the European Union and the West tried to isolate Russia economically, China increased its purchases of Russian energy and became Moscow's principal supplier of key technologies, including high-tech components for Russian weapons industries. Beijing has ignored Western demands to cut off those supplies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is worried that the meeting could produce a deal behind Kyiv's back.
The planning has prompted comparisons to the 1945 Yalta Conference, where the leaders of the US, Britain and the Soviet Union agreed to divide Germany and Berlin into four military occupation zones and finalised plans for creating the United Nations. What to watch now is whether Shenzhen yields any framework for three-way nuclear arms control, and how Kyiv responds to its fears of being left out.
Citações Notáveis
Trump called for "a new, improved and modernised" nuclear deal that includes China.— Donald Trump, after New START expired
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