President Donald Trump will sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin next week in China, the White House confirmed Friday. The Associated Press called it an unprecedented gathering of the leaders of the world’s biggest nuclear powers.
The three-way meeting is set for Thursday, Nov. 19, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China’s tech hub. Xi is hosting this year’s summit, which runs Nov. 18–19.
What the White House said
“President Trump will conclude his visit to China with a trilateral meeting between the President of the United States, the President of the People’s Republic of China and the President of the Russian Federation,” White House assistant press secretary Olivia Wales said.
Wales said Trump plans to discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons, which she said the president considers very dangerous. Iran is also expected to come up, according to The Washington Times.
Don’t expect a deal
Even the administration is setting expectations low. “We do not expect to get to any kind of agreement,” a U.S. official said, according to Reuters. Senior officials described the meeting as an “entry point” for reducing nuclear arsenals, not a chance to strike a deal, The Washington Times reported.
Analysts told the AP the talks are likely to be heavier on symbolism than substance. Bloomberg noted that China has been reluctant to discuss limits on its nuclear stockpile with Russia and the U.S., since both have much larger arsenals.
Ukraine is off the table
Trump will be in a room with Putin, but officials said they don’t expect him to raise Russia’s war in Ukraine during the trilateral meeting, because those negotiations are on a separate track, The Washington Times reported.
Reuters reported that Trump also isn’t expected to raise the case of Alice Huang, the suspected Chinese spy alleged to have been in a relationship with former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. There are also no plans for Trump to engage with North Korea on the trip.
The rest of the trip
Trump leaves Monday for Asia. He’ll first attend the ASEAN summit in Manila, Philippines, then head to China. There he’s expected to hold a bilateral meeting and working lunch with Xi on Thursday before the three-way talks. Elon Musk is expected to join Trump for the China portion of the trip but won’t take part in either meeting, officials said.
Trump hinted at the meeting earlier this month. “One of the meetings, I think, will be with President Putin and President Xi, and that’ll be interesting,” he told reporters.
Trump will stand alongside the leaders of the two biggest U.S. rivals, his own team expects no agreement, and Ukraine won’t even be raised. Is this diplomacy, or a photo op with two strongmen?