Trump, Xi and Putin to meet in Shenzhen with nuclear arms on agenda

Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet on Thursday alongside the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, the White House has announced. The unprecedented gathering will bring together the leaders of the world's biggest nuclear powers, although analysts have played down expectations of significant diplomatic results.

The talks come amid a complicated period in relations between Washington, Beijing and Moscow. Less than a year after starting a trade war with China, Trump has adopted a warmer approach towards Xi, despite continuing tensions between the world's two largest economies. In September, he welcomed the Chinese president to Washington for Xi's first state visit in more than a decade.

Trump has also strengthened his relationship with Putin while Russia's war in Ukraine continues. US envoys travelled to Moscow earlier this week for discussions aimed at ending that conflict. However, an unnamed senior US official told reporters that Trump intends to avoid discussing Ukraine during the meeting with his Russian and Chinese counterparts.

Instead, the US president plans to raise the war in Iran, the official said. That discussion would take place despite the friendly strategic relationships both Beijing and Moscow maintain with Tehran. Trump also sees the gathering as a way to advance his ambition for an agreement covering the nuclear weapons stockpiles of all three countries.

The nuclear discussions would follow the expiry in February of the last arms treaty between Russia and the United States. Its lapse left the two largest nuclear powers without those limits for the first time in more than half a century. Trump rejected Moscow's proposal to prolong the agreement by a year, calling instead for a replacement that would also include China.

The senior US official described the planned talks as an opening for a potentially productive conversation about nuclear disarmament. The countries would enter that conversation with substantially different arsenals. Pentagon estimates put China's stockpile at 600 warheads, while the United States and Russia are each estimated to possess more than 5,000.

European concerns surfaced on Friday when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned of another "Anchorage moment". He was referring to the Alaska summit, where Trump's overtures to Putin surprised European leaders while Ukrainian and European representatives were absent. "Please, no surprises," Merz said, urging continued cooperation with Europe and Ukraine.

The gathering's symbolism has also inspired Russian artist Alexey Sergienko to create a painting titled Shenzhen 26. Even with that attention and its historic significance, analysts remain doubtful that the meeting will deliver major breakthroughs.