Trump, Putin and Xi Plan Historic Three-Way Summit in China

President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet next week in China for an unprecedented three-way summit. The talks are expected to focus on nuclear weapons and the possibility of a new arms control agreement.

The Details: The White House confirmed the meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China. Trump is also scheduled to hold separate talks with Xi during the trip. White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said Trump wants to discuss reducing nuclear weapons worldwide, according to CNN (Lean Left bias). Iran could also come up, but Russia's war in Ukraine is not expected to be on the agenda. A senior US official said no agreement is expected to come out of the meeting. Instead, the talks could serve as an opening for future discussions on nuclear arms control.

The Nuclear Arms Question: The meeting comes after the last major nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia expired in February. The New START agreement placed limits on the two countries' nuclear arsenals, which are the world's largest. Trump has said he wants a new agreement that includes China. However, Beijing has shown little interest in joining a deal with Washington and Moscow, in part because its nuclear arsenal is considerably smaller than those of the other two countries.

For Context: The three leaders have met separately in recent months, but a joint meeting would bring them together at a time of strained international relations. Meanwhile, Trump has sought closer ties with both Putin and Xi, despite disagreements over the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Iran, trade and other issues. Trump and Xi also met in Washington in September, following a three-day summit that included discussions on trade and other issues.

Media Coverage: Coverage was largely similar, with CNN (Lean Left bias) and the New York Post (Lean Right) highlighting the historic three-way meeting and its focus on nuclear arms control. The New York Post also noted other potential topics, including Iran, North Korea and trade tensions.

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