The White House confirmed on Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and US President Donald Trump will hold their first joint meeting as heads of state during a summit in Shenzhen next week.
According to US officials, Trump plans to use Thursday’s trilateral talks to address his ongoing conflict with Iran and global nuclear arms reduction, though Russia’s war in Ukraine is not expected to be on the formal agenda.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told journalists that the three leaders will convene in the southern Chinese city on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
“The president has made it clear that, among other topics, he will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world. This proliferation, President Trump believes, is very dangerous,” Wales said.
According to a US officials, one of the primary foreign policy crises defining Trump’s second presidential term will be on the agenda, while the other will be omitted.
The source also referenced recent meetings US envoys have conducted with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, noting that Washington is maintaining a “whole other track” of diplomatic talks with Kyiv and Moscow aimed at resolving the war in Ukraine.
Yalta redux?
The meeting draws parallels to the 1945 Yalta Conference in the Soviet Union, where Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt shaped the post-World War II global order and redrew European borders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has voiced apprehension that the Shenzhen summit could lead to a modern-day “redistribution of spheres of influence” reminiscent of Yalta.
While the Trump administration sought to reassert American dominance in the Western Hemisphere by capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, partitioning the globe among major powers—as occurred in 1945—offers no guarantee of lasting security.
On Thursday, Trump and Xi will hold bilateral talks over a working lunch, marking their fourth face-to-face meeting since the US president returned to office last year.
However, Trump is not scheduled to have a separate one-on-one with Putin.
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