Photo: File photo — President Donald Trump with President Xi Jinping at a welcome ceremony in Beijing in May 2026 — Daniel Torok / The White House
US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold the first-ever trilateral meeting between the leaders of the three countries in Shenzhen, China, on Thursday, the White House has announced.
The meeting, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, will bring together the leaders of the world's three biggest nuclear powers, with cutting nuclear arsenals at the top of the agenda.
- First-ever meeting of the US, Russian and Chinese leaders together, set for Thursday, November 19, in Shenzhen
- Nuclear arms reduction is the main topic; the Iran war will also be raised, but Ukraine is not on the agenda
- US officials say no agreement is expected — the talks are an entry point, not a negotiation
Why the Shenzhen trilateral is happening now
White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told reporters on Friday that Trump will discuss "the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world, whose proliferation President Trump believes is very dangerous."
The last nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, New START, expired in February, leaving the world's two largest arsenals without major limits for the first time in decades.
China has long resisted joining trilateral nuclear talks, arguing that Washington and Moscow hold far larger arsenals and should cut first.
Iran on the agenda, Ukraine off it
A senior US official said Trump also intends to raise the war in Iran with Xi and Putin. Ukraine will not be discussed — Washington is handling it through separate talks with Moscow — and no Trump-Putin bilateral is planned.
"We do not expect to get to any kind of agreement. I would characterize this as the entry point, the first conversation," the official told reporters.
Neither Moscow nor Beijing had officially commented on the announcement as of Friday.
What happens next
Trump leaves Washington on Monday for the Philippines before arriving in Shenzhen late on Wednesday for the two-day APEC summit of 21 member economies.
He will hold bilateral talks and a working lunch with Xi on Thursday afternoon before the trilateral meeting closes his China visit.
Sources: Punch; Reuters reporting via The Business Standard; Associated Press reporting via 365 Daily; New York Post. Follow @newstweetnaija for more.
