Trump, Putin, Xi to hold historic trilateral talks in China

Detailed summary

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are expected to hold their first trilateral meeting on the sidelines of next week’s ...

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are expected to hold their first trilateral meeting on the sidelines of next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in China, bringing the leaders of the world’s three biggest nuclear powers together amid growing tensions over global security, Iran and nuclear weapons.

The White House confirmed that the meeting would take place in Shenzhen, southern China, where Trump is scheduled to attend the two-day summit involving 21 member economies.

Olivia Wales, White House spokeswoman said the discussions would include efforts to reduce nuclear weapons, following the expiration of a major arms control agreement between Washington and Moscow in February.

“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,” Wales told reporters.

She added that Trump would conclude his visit with a meeting involving the three leaders.

“President Trump will conclude his visit to China with a trilateral meeting between the president of the United States, the president of the People’s Republic of China, and the president of the Russian Federation,” she said.

Russia has confirmed its participation, while China had yet to publicly respond to the announcement. However, a senior US official said no agreement was expected to emerge from the talks, according to reports by Reuters and the Associated Press.

Iran is also expected to feature in the discussions, although Ukraine is not currently on the agenda.

The planned meeting comes at a critical time for global nuclear security following the expiration in February of the last major nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia.

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