President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in China next week, the White House said on Friday. The Trump Putin Xi meeting will take place on Thursday in Shenzhen, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and will be the first three-way meeting of the leaders of the United States, Russia and China.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told reporters that Trump will use the meeting to press for cuts in nuclear weapons. “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 said.
Trump also plans to discuss the war in Iran with Xi and Putin, according to U.S. officials. The officials said he is not expected to raise Russia’s war in Ukraine. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no agreement on nuclear arms is expected to come out of the Trump Putin Xi meeting, which officials described as a starting point for talks.
Wales spoke to reporters on a call on Friday. Two senior administration officials also briefed reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity, and said the three leaders would meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shenzhen.
Trump Putin Xi meeting: what is on the agenda
Nuclear arms control is set to dominate the Trump Putin Xi meeting. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and Russia expired in February, leaving the world’s two largest nuclear powers without a binding arms control agreement. Trump has said he wants a three-way agreement covering the nuclear arsenals of all three countries.
Two senior administration officials said Trump was prepared to address what one described as the “difficult” issue of China’s nuclear arsenal. The officials said the discussions at the Trump Putin Xi meeting were not expected to produce an agreement on nuclear proliferation.
The meeting comes as relations among the three countries remain strained. The United States is at war with Iran, a conflict Trump has pressed China and Russia to help bring to an end, while Russia’s war in Ukraine continues. Officials said the Trump Putin Xi meeting would give the three leaders a chance to talk directly about those conflicts.
The trip to Asia
Trump leaves Washington on Monday for a four-day trip to Asia that will end with the Trump Putin Xi meeting. He will attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in the Philippines on Tuesday before arriving in Shenzhen late on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Trump will hold bilateral talks with Xi, their fourth meeting since he returned to office in 2025, including a working lunch. The talks are expected to focus on trade agreements between Washington and Beijing. Trump is not scheduled to hold a separate one-on-one meeting with Putin.
Billionaire Elon Musk is expected to accompany Trump to Shenzhen for the Trump Putin Xi meeting, officials said, although he will not take part in the three-way meeting with Xi and Putin.
Trump Putin Xi meeting comes as arms treaty lapses
The APEC summit brings together 21 member economies in Shenzhen, a tech hub in southern China. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum groups 21 economies around the Pacific Rim, and the summit is its main annual gathering. China has confirmed that Xi will hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit, according to Chinese state media, but Beijing and Moscow had not publicly confirmed the three-way meeting at the time of the White House announcement.
Trump’s repeated insistence that the first meeting of the three leaders focus on nuclear arms reductions has drawn attention in Washington and abroad. The White House said the president will conclude his visit to China with the Trump Putin Xi meeting.
What the three leaders may not discuss
Officials were clear about the limits of the talks. The senior U.S. official said Trump does plan to discuss the Iran war with Xi and Putin, but will steer away from discussing Ukraine. The meeting is expected to serve as a start to nuclear talks between the three leaders, and no agreements are expected to be announced.