US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet next week to discuss the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and arms control. The White House announced this on Friday. This will be the first trilateral meeting between the leaders of the three nations. The meeting is scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China, with the primary focus being the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons.
President Trump has previously suggested that these discussions could pave the way for a new agreement among the nations that possess the world’s largest nuclear arsenals, as reported by CNN.
White House spokesperson Olivia Wells told reporters that the President has made it clear he intends to discuss, among other issues, the reduction of the global nuclear stockpile. President Trump views the proliferation of nuclear weapons as extremely dangerous. The most recent nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expired in February.
Meanwhile, China is rapidly expanding its own nuclear arsenal. However, US officials are downplaying the likelihood of a new nuclear agreement emerging from this meeting, suggesting instead that these talks could serve as a starting point for future negotiations. A senior US official stated, “We are not expecting to reach any kind of agreement right now. I would describe this as a gateway or the beginning of a dialogue.” This marks the first such discussion between these nations at the leadership level. The official added, “We hope this will be the start of a conversation that could prove fruitful in the future.”
US officials also indicated that the world leaders would discuss Iran during the meeting. A senior US official noted that while Elon Musk is expected to accompany President Trump on the trip, he will not be participating in the trilateral meeting between the three leaders. Meanwhile, Beijing and Moscow have yet to officially confirm their participation in this trilateral summit.
