USAupdated 1h ago3 min read
Trump Says He Would Meet Putin and Xi in China for Nuclear Weapons Talks
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Trump open to meeting Putin and Xi in China for nuclear talks. Putin proposed a trilateral summit with Trump and Xi to end the Ukraine war.
Nuclear talks floated
President Donald Trump told reporters that he would be willing to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and he said the priority would be “We would arrange it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearization.”
Trump linked the idea to a potential meeting during his visit to China next month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and he said, “If they wanted to hold it, I think it would be held in China.”
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Putin proposed the three leaders’ summit on a call with Trump on Oct. 9, and the plan was described as aiming to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said discussions were “hypothetically” raised, while he also said there was “no substantive proposals or agreements” discussed or put forward regarding the meeting or its agenda.
The talks were described as potentially excluding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with The Hill reporting Trump said he was open to a trilateral meeting without Zelenskyy and with the Kremlin proposal described as “without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the table.”
Rubio, Zelenskyy clash
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said early Monday that “there's been talks of a meeting,” and he added, “The president is open to anything that he can do to help bring a war to an end, if it's possible.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha criticized the idea of a meeting in China without Ukraine’s input, writing, “A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China, and the U.S. would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war.”
Zelenskyy said on X that “the decision to undo all of this, to block all of it, seems wrong to me,” as the reporting tied the diplomatic friction to Trump’s moves on diesel and sanctions.
Trump told reporters on Monday that he would do the meeting “Not so much on Ukraine because Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine,” and he said the leaders would “have it to talk about weapons and denuclearization.”
The Washington Post reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a meeting had been discussed “hypothetically,” and it also quoted Peskov saying “no substantive proposals or agreements” were discussed or put forward.
APEC venue, unresolved agenda
The proposed venue for any trilateral meeting was described as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, with CNBC reporting it “may take place at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.”
The Jerusalem Post reported that the APEC summit takes place Nov. 18 and 19 in Shenzhen, southern China, and it said the Kremlin suggested the three leaders meet on the sidelines.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Wall Street Journal that “There is no clear understanding yet regarding the meeting itself or its potential agenda,” and he said all three parties acknowledged only a “hypothetical possibility.”
The Washington Post reported that China’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the matter, while it said the Chinese side had reached out to “U.S. counterparts” for clarity about the desire for such a meeting.
The Hill reported that Trump said he had not yet agreed to a trilateral meeting, and it quoted him saying, “I would do it,” while also noting that he suggested such a summit would likely be held in China.