On a Thursday in Shenzhen, the presidents of the United States, China and Russia are set to sit together for the first time in history, a gathering of the three largest nuclear powers arranged on the margins of an Asia-Pacific trade summit. It arrives in the long shadow of an expired arms treaty and a war in Ukraine nearing its fifth year, and it is being received more as a gesture than a bargain. Each leader seeks something distinct from the room: Xi a showcase of China's rising stature, Putin a seat beside Washington and Beijing, Trump a first opening toward a nuclear framework that might in
Trump, Xi and Putin Plan Unprecedented Trilateral Meeting on APEC Sidelines in Shenzhen
The first gathering of the three biggest nuclear powers' leaders, with no deals expected
Mark
Why does a meeting where nothing is expected to be signed still matter?
Mimi
Because of who is in the room. It's the first time the leaders of the three biggest nuclear powers have gathered together, and New START lapsed in February with nothing replacing it.
Luke
Worth being clear, though: the claim that no agreements are expected comes from one anonymous senior U.S. official. We don't have Beijing's or Moscow's account of expectations.
Mark
Why would China hesitate on arms talks?
Mimi
The numbers. Pentagon estimates put its arsenal above 600 warheads, while the U.S. and Russia each have more than 5,000. China has shown little interest in a pact.
Luke
Those are Pentagon estimates, not figures Beijing has confirmed.
Mark
What about Ukraine?
Mimi
The U.S. official says Trump will avoid it. But Zelenskyy fears a deal could be discussed behind Kyiv's back, and Kagan reads Putin's interest as signaling that decisions on Ukraine are being made.
Luke
Kagan's reading is analysis, not fact. And Zelenskyy's concern is a worry, not evidence that such talks are planned.
Mark
And the Yalta comparison?
Mimi
Peskov rejects it, saying nothing agreed in Shenzhen could be imposed on others.
Luke
The comparison itself is attributed loosely to unnamed people, and nothing in the reporting says what, if anything, will be decided.
Il Polso
- Three nuclear superpowers are preparing to meet face to face for the first time, and the room itself carries weight before a single word is spoken.
- With New START lapsed, the removal of limits on the largest arsenals has left the world without a binding check for the first time in decades, and this meeting is the first tentative attempt to fill that gap.
- Officials insist the talks will bring no agreements, only a starting point, while analysts warn the event may amount to pageantry rather than progress.
- Zelenskyy fears Ukraine could be discussed over Kyiv's head, and Beijing's free-trade message risks being strained by an encounter that looks like a Western-style power bargain.
- The meeting is likely to land as a statement of intent rather than a breakthrough, with its real consequences unfolding in the weeks that follow.
On a Thursday in Shenzhen, the presidents of the United States, China and Russia are set to sit together for the first time in history, a gathering of the three largest nuclear powers arranged on the margins of an Asia-Pacific trade summit. It arrives in the long shadow of an expired arms treaty and a war in Ukraine nearing its fifth year, and it is being received more as a gesture than a bargain. Each leader seeks something distinct from the room: Xi a showcase of China's rising stature, Putin a seat beside Washington and Beijing, Trump a first opening toward a nuclear framework that might include China. Whether a picture of three leaders at one table becomes the start of something lasting is a question the coming days will only begin to answer.
The White House confirmed on Friday that Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin will sit down together on Thursday in Shenzhen, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. No gathering of the leaders of the world's three largest nuclear powers has ever happened before, and yet analysts expect little more than symbolism. No agreements are on the table.
The timing is awkward for everyone involved. Trump has warmly embraced Xi since their trade truce, even as the American war with Iran divides them, and he has courted Putin while Russia's war in Ukraine grinds toward its fifth year. A U.S. official said Trump intends to raise Iran and to open talks on nuclear stockpiles, but to steer clear of Ukraine. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, worries that the meeting could become a place where his country's future is decided without Kyiv in the room.
The backdrop is stark. New START expired in February, removing limits on the two largest arsenals for the first time in more than fifty years. Trump refused Russia's request to extend it and instead called for a new deal that includes China, which Pentagon estimates put at more than 600 warheads, far below the roughly 5,000 each held by Washington and Moscow, and which has shown little appetite for such a pact.
Each guest has its own reasons to attend. Xi gains a stage for China's growing prestige, while Putin gains the appearance of standing alongside the superpowers. Yet the meeting also sits uneasily with Beijing's own message as a defender of multilateralism and free trade, a tension that a Singaporean professor of Chinese foreign policy suggested could undercut China's pitch at the summit itself. Some have even compared the gathering to the Yalta Conference of 1945, a comparison the Kremlin rejected, insisting no one imposes a vision of order on others.
What happens Thursday will hinge on a few threads: whether any real movement on nuclear talks emerges beyond a shared intention, how China reconciles the encounter with its trade rhetoric, and how Kyiv responds if Ukraine enters the conversation.
The White House confirmed on Friday that the presidents of the United States, China and Russia will sit down together on Thursday in Shenzhen, on the sidelines of next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. No such three-way meeting of the leaders of the world's biggest nuclear powers has happened before. Analysts quoted in the Associated Press report say expectations for breakthroughs are low and that the meeting will carry more symbolism than substance.
The timing is awkward for all three countries. Donald Trump has warmly embraced Xi Jinping since the two reached a truce last year in their short-lived trade war, even though the U.S. war with Iran and other tensions divide them. He has also tried to build a relationship with Vladimir Putin, who has kept up a war in Ukraine that is nearly five years old and whose government has deepened its military, intelligence and diplomatic partnership with Iran.
Trump has said the meeting is a chance to talk about the Iran war and to pursue a three-way agreement on nuclear stockpiles. A U.S. official, briefing reporters anonymously, said he plans to raise Iran with Xi and Putin but will steer clear of Ukraine. The official described the session as the start of nuclear talks, with no agreements expected to be announced.
The arms-control backdrop is stark. The last nuclear pact between Russia and the United States, New START, expired in February, removing caps on the two largest arsenals for the first time in more than half a century. Russia had asked to extend it another year. Trump refused and called instead for a new, improved and modernized deal that includes China. But Pentagon estimates put China's arsenal at more than 600 warheads, against more than 5,000 each for the U.S. and Russia, and Beijing has shown little interest in a nuclear pact.
Each host and guest has something to gain. By hosting, Xi may see a chance to show off China's growing clout and prestige. For the Kremlin, sitting at the table is a coveted opportunity to appear a superpower on par with Washington and Beijing. Edgard Kagan, a former U.S. ambassador to Malaysia now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Putin's aim was to signal that he and Xi are talking to Trump in a way that suggests they are making decisions on Ukraine, something Ukrainians and Europeans dislike.
The meeting could also overshadow APEC itself, which brings 21 economies to a city that grew from a small fishing village into a technology and economic hub in a few decades. It could complicate China's argument that Western Cold War thinking helped cause Russia's invasion, and its criticism that the U.S. has undermined international institutions and treaties in the way it has fought Iran. Hoo Tiang Boon, a professor of Chinese foreign policy at Nanyang Technological University, said it could undercut China's pitch as a defender of free trade at APEC: "You sort of run counter to Chinese support of multilateralism."
The leaders know one another well in pairs. Putin and Xi have met more than 40 times since Xi became president in 2013 and call each other "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 Xi's state visit to Washington in September. China is Russia's top trading partner, and since the 2022 invasion it has bought more Russian energy and become Moscow's main supplier of key technologies, including components for weapons industries, ignoring Western demands to stop. Beijing calls itself neutral on Ukraine while blaming Kyiv's Western allies for provoking Russia. Moscow has repeatedly backed China's position on Taiwan.
Trump recently struck a diesel deal with Russia, waiving sanctions to allow the sale of millions of tons of fuel. He has blamed rising energy prices on Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, though analysts say the Iran war is the main driver of higher crude prices. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced concern that the meeting could become a venue for discussing a Ukraine deal behind Kyiv's back.
Some have compared the plan to the 1945 Yalta Conference, where the U.S., Britain and the Soviet Union agreed to divide Germany and Berlin into four occupation zones and finalized plans for the United Nations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the comparison, saying agreements reached in Shenzhen could not be imposed on others. The meeting is extremely significant, he said, but the vision of global order is that no one imposes a particular view of it.
What to watch Thursday: whether anything on nuclear talks emerges beyond a statement of intent, how China squares the meeting with its free-trade message, and how Zelenskyy responds if Ukraine comes up.
Citazioni salienti
You sort of run counter to Chinese support of multilateralism.— Hoo Tiang Boon, Nanyang Technological University
A meeting between the leaders of Russia, China and the United States is extremely significant, but agreements can't be imposed on others.— Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman (paraphrased)
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