The leaders of the United States, Russia and China are preparing for a historic trilateral meeting in Shenzhen next week, marking the first leader-level conversation among the three nations on nuclear disarmament. According to BBC News, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will convene on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in the southern Chinese city, with White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales confirming the arrangement to reporters.
Trump will arrive in Shenzhen late on Wednesday for the two-day Apec summit involving 21 member states. The trilateral gathering will conclude his visit to China, following bilateral discussions with Xi on Thursday—their fourth meeting since Trump returned to office in 2025. Wales stated that
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.
The meeting represents an extraordinary diplomatic moment. The Washington Post reported that all three leaders attended the larger G20 meeting in 2019, but have never previously held a trilateral meeting as heads of state. CNN noted that a senior U.S. official described the gathering as the first leader-level conversation among the three countries focused specifically on nuclear disarmament, and that Elon Musk was expected to travel with Trump, though he would not attend the trilateral talks.
Trump's broader Asia-Pacific visit will begin earlier in the week. He will attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in the Philippines on Tuesday before proceeding to China. Wales said the president's trip would
secure historic wins to the American people and advance America's interests in the Indo Pacific.
What topics will be discussed?
Nuclear weapons reduction will dominate the agenda, with Trump emphasizing his concern about proliferation. Iran may also feature in discussions among the world's three biggest nuclear powers, though Ukraine is not expected to be addressed. The Kremlin indicated that Putin would raise efforts to end the war in Ukraine with Trump in Shenzhen, although Xi's role in that discussion remained unclear.
This trilateral meeting follows months of intensive diplomatic engagement between the three capitals. According to the Associated Press, Trump and Putin have met face-to-face seven times, most recently in Alaska in August 2025, while Trump and Xi have met eight times, including Xi's September state visit to Washington. Xi separately hosted both Putin and Trump in Beijing just days apart earlier this year.
An unnamed senior American official told news agencies AP and Reuters that no formal agreement was expected to follow the talks, suggesting the meeting would serve primarily as a venue for dialogue rather than binding commitments.
How did this meeting come about?
Chinese state media reported on Friday that Xi would participate in bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Apec summit, citing a foreign ministry spokesman, but initially did not report on the trilateral arrangement. Earlier this month, Russian state news agency Tass reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had indicated there were
signals confirming readinessfor such talks at the summit.
The diplomatic groundwork reflects ongoing efforts to manage relations among the three powers. In September, Trump and Xi concluded a three-day summit without major breakthroughs on artificial intelligence, extending only a two-month trade truce. That same month, they exchanged warm remarks at a White House state dinner but made no visible progress on Taiwan, AI, trade and Iran. In August, CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Moscow to warn Russia against attacking NATO members, though President Trump downplayed the trip as routine.
What happens next?
Xi is scheduled to chair the Apec Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen on November 18–19 and deliver remarks. He is also scheduled to attend the Apec CEO Summit opening on November 17, setting the formal diplomatic calendar within which the trilateral meeting will occur.
