Leaders of three major powers to meet in China

The White House has confirmed that US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet next week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China.

The talks will take place nine months after the last nuclear arms control treaty between Washington and Moscow, New START, expired. As a result, the world’s two largest nuclear powers have been left without treaty limits on their nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than 50 years.

What will the leaders discuss?

Trump has said the meeting could provide an opportunity for the three countries to reach an agreement on their nuclear stockpiles. The New START treaty expired in February 2026. Trump subsequently rejected Russia’s proposal to extend it for another year, calling instead for a “new, improved and modernized” agreement that would include China.

However, expectations for the talks remain low. A senior Trump administration official told Reuters that the meeting should be viewed as the beginning of a conversation rather than an opportunity to reach an agreement.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, followed by the United States and China.

A senior US official said Trump also plans to discuss the war in Iran with Xi and Putin. However, Russia’s war against Ukraine is not expected to be on the agenda.

Elon Musk will also travel to China with Trump but will not take part in the three-way meeting. Trump is also not expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his Asia trip.

Comparisons with the Yalta Conference

The planned summit has been compared with the 1945 Yalta Conference, where the leaders of the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union discussed the post-war international order.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the comparison, saying that any agreements reached in Shenzhen could not be imposed on other countries. Nevertheless, he described the meeting as “extremely significant”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed concern that the summit could become a platform for discussing Ukraine’s future without Kyiv’s participation.

Despite a brief trade war with China last year and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, Trump has sought to build closer ties with both leaders. Washington is also continuing its efforts to mediate an end to the war in Ukraine.