U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold their first trilateral summit at the APEC forum in Shenzhen, China. The meeting will focus on nuclear arms reductions and the war in Iran, though senior U.S. officials expect no immediate agreements. Russia's war in Ukraine is excluded from the agenda as Washington handles those discussions via a separate track. The summit follows the February 2026 expiration of the New START treaty.
Summit scheduling and bilateral meetings
- ▪The trilateral summit among Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping is scheduled for Thursday, November 19, 2026, following Trump's bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping
- ▪The White House confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump does not have a separate one-on-one bilateral meeting scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his trip to China for the APEC summit
- ▪U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold their first-ever trilateral summit
Nuclear reduction agenda at summit
- ▪Senior U.S. officials stated that the administration does not expect the first trilateral summit in Shenzhen, China to yield a nuclear arms control agreement, describing it as an initial conversation
- ▪U.S. President Donald Trump plans to discuss global nuclear weapons reduction during the trilateral summit in Shenzhen, China with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin
Inclusion of China in nuclear arms control
- ▪U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that effective 21st-century arms control must include China due to the size and growth of Beijing's nuclear arsenal
- ▪Beijing has historically resisted joining nuclear arms control talks with Washington and Moscow, arguing that the United States and Russia hold far larger nuclear arsenals
Nuclear warhead stockpile estimates
- ▪Russia and the United States each possess estimated inventories of more than 5,000 nuclear warheads
- ▪China maintains an estimated stockpile of over 600 nuclear warheads, which U.S. officials project could expand to 1,000 warheads by 2030
Exclusion of Ukraine from summit
- ▪U.S. President Donald Trump plans to discuss global nuclear weapons reduction during the trilateral summit in Shenzhen, China with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin
- ▪Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed concern that the trilateral meeting among Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping could serve as a platform to discuss Ukraine without Kyiv
U.S. diplomacy on Iran conflict
- ▪U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the United States no longer needed an agreement with Iran, directing Vice President JD Vance to shift focus from diplomacy to domestic corruption investigations
- ▪U.S. President Donald Trump plans to discuss global nuclear weapons reduction during the trilateral summit in Shenzhen, China with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin
Expiration of New START nuclear treaty
- ▪The New START nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia expired in February 2026 after President Donald Trump rejected a Russian proposal for a one-year extension
- ▪The expiration of the New START treaty in February 2026 removed caps on the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia for the first time in over a half-century
Story comments
Loading comments…