US President Donald Trump has expressed willingness to hold a joint meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as next month to discuss nuclear weapons control and denuclearisation.
Trump made the statement on Monday, October 19, saying the proposed meeting could also cover trade and other issues. The talks could mark an unprecedented diplomatic engagement involving the leaders of the three countries with the world’s largest nuclear weapons stockpiles.
“We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearization,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “If President Xi wants to have it, I’d have it. I’m sure we’d talk about other things like trade too.”
Trump has been seeking to improve strained relations with Beijing and Moscow as China and Russia continue to strengthen their ties. However, a joint meeting could raise concerns among US allies in Europe and Asia about possible agreements that might weaken Washington’s existing alliances across the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.
At the same time, an agreement between the three powers could help reduce global tensions. A potential resolution to Russia’s war in Ukraine could ease what has become one of Europe’s biggest security threats in decades, while a nuclear arms agreement could establish new limits among the world’s leading nuclear powers.
White House Discusses Possible November Meeting
The White House has reportedly been discussing a possible meeting between Trump, Xi and Putin for several weeks. The proposed talks could take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled for November 18 and 19 in China, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
The meeting would focus on denuclearisation, although the extent of preparations for the proposed talks remains unclear.
Trump has recently taken steps to improve relations with Putin, including announcing a diesel-fuel deal and signing an executive order on Friday waiving key sanctions on Moscow.
Putin reportedly suggested using the proposed three-way meeting to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine on terms favourable to Russia. The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the Russian leader made the suggestion during a phone conversation with Trump on October 9.
The call also resulted in the diesel-fuel deal. The Kremlin confirmed on Monday that the possibility of a meeting involving the three leaders had been discussed.
Although Trump, Xi and Putin have met one another separately, they have never held formal talks together.
The White House did not respond to a Reuters request for comment, while the Russian and Chinese embassies in Washington also did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump Criticises Zelenskiy as Ukraine Faces Fresh Attacks
Trump’s efforts to improve relations with Moscow, including the reported diesel deal and sanctions relief, have attracted criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy has warned that such moves could embolden Putin and prolong Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Speaking about the proposed meeting on Monday, Trump said he would be willing to participate but questioned whether Ukraine’s leadership was helping efforts to resolve the conflict.
“I would do it, not so much for Ukraine because Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine,” Trump said.
He added that “Zelenskiy is not helping matters much,” and that “it’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.”
Trump has yet to fulfil his campaign promise to bring the war to an end quickly.
Meanwhile, Russia launched one of its broadest air assaults on Ukraine in months overnight, cutting electricity to more than 500,000 households and damaging energy infrastructure. Ten people were reported killed in the attacks.
Trump Pushes for Nuclear Arms Agreement
Last week, Trump told reporters that he believed a denuclearisation agreement involving Russia and China was possible, although he acknowledged that a deal did not necessarily have to be reached this year.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia has the world’s largest stockpile of stored nuclear warheads, followed by the United States and China.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as New START, expired earlier this year. Signed in 2010, the agreement placed limits on US and Russian strategic nuclear weapons and allowed for a single five-year extension, which Putin and former US President Joe Biden agreed to.
Any further extension of the treaty’s limits would require an executive decision to continue observing them voluntarily.
China, however, has expressed reservations about joining trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations with Washington and Moscow.
China’s foreign ministry said last week that its “nuclear strength is by no means at the same level with that of the US and Russia,” adding that it would be “neither fair, reasonable nor realistic to ask China to join the so-called trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage.”
Trump has already agreed to attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen next month. The trip would mark his second visit to China this year and his third meeting with Xi over the same period. China, Russia and the United States are all members of APEC.
Trump Downplays Possible Meeting With North Korea’s Kim
Trump also played down the possibility of holding another high-profile meeting in China, this time with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“I get along with him very well, and I’m not sure that anybody’s asking for a meeting,” Trump said on Monday.
The US president had previously indicated that he planned to meet Kim this year. However, North Korea has publicly signalled that it is not open to negotiations aimed at persuading the country to abandon its nuclear weapons programme.
