US President Donald Trump, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold their first-ever trilateral summit on Thursday in Shenzhen, China, focusing on nuclear arms control and regional stability.
The high-stakes meeting takes place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, according to a Friday announcement from the White House. While bilateral encounters between these nuclear powers have occurred in the past, a three-way summit involving Washington, Moscow, and Beijing has never taken place before.
Nuclear weapons policy sits squarely at the top of the agenda for the Thursday gathering. “The president has made it clear that he will discuss, among other things, the reduction of nuclear weapons worldwide,” Olivia Wales, deputy White House press secretary, told reporters.
A senior US official tempered expectations for immediate breakthroughs, describing the upcoming talks as an initial exploratory step rather than a venue for formal treaty signings. Trump has repeatedly advocated for a new, long-term arms control agreement following the expiration of the New Start treaty between the United States and Russia earlier this year.
That 2010 pact limited deployed strategic nuclear warheads and their delivery systems. In the wake of its expiration, Washington has pushed to bring China into future multilateral arms control frameworks, though Beijing has consistently resisted those overtures.
The trilateral summit also includes discussions regarding Iran. “I think the president does indeed intend to talk about Iran in the trilateral meeting with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin,” a senior US administration official told reporters on a conference call.
Ukraine will remain off the agenda in Shenzhen, as Washington pursues a separate diplomatic track for that conflict. Direct negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow resumed on November 10 and 11 in Abu Dhabi, mediated by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, following an eight-month pause.
Those separate Middle Eastern talks yielded an agreement for a major prisoner exchange involving at least 1,000 detained personnel from each side in the coming weeks. Ukrainian chief negotiator Rustem Umierow and Russian presidential adviser Vladimir Medinski participated in those sessions alongside European observers.
The Shenzhen summit marks the fourth face-to-face meeting between Trump and Xi since Trump returned to the White House. Their relationship continues to balance trade negotiations, tariff adjustments, and competing technological ambitions.
During the Apec summit in Busan in October 2025, both leaders agreed to lower US punitive tariffs from 57 percent to 47 percent while Beijing paused planned export restrictions on critical minerals. Despite those commercial adjustments, deep strategic frictions persist over artificial intelligence competition and semiconductor export bans.
| Event / Agreement | Date | Key Participants | Primary Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Busan Apec Summit | October 2025 | Trump & Xi | Tariffs and mineral exports |
| Beijing State Visit | May 2026 | Trump & Xi | Bilateral trade and tech |
| Washington State Visit | September 2026 | Trump & Xi | Economic cooperation |
| Abu Dhabi Talks | November 10–11, 2026 | Kyiv & Moscow Delegations | Ukraine war endgame and prisoner exchange |
Separate working dinners and bilateral meetings between Trump and Xi are also scheduled for the same day, while a private one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin is not on the itinerary.
