Global Politicsupdated 1h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 16 March 2024Trump, Xi and Putin Plan Trilateral Meeting in Shenzhen on APEC Sidelines
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Unprecedented trilateral meeting of Trump, Xi and Putin on APEC sidelines in Shenzhen. Topics include Ukraine, Iran and nuclear arms.
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15 outlets in this story. Read their headlines below.
APEC Shenzhen Trilateral
Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin plan to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen next week, with the White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales saying the president will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world. The White House and Kremlin confirmed the meeting, and the BBC reported that no agreement was expected to follow the talks, with an unnamed, senior US official saying so. The meeting is set to take place as Trump attends the APEC summit in China’s tech hub of Shenzhen, and the BBC said it is understood Iran may also be discussed during the meeting of the world’s biggest nuclear powers.
The BBC also said the meeting will not include Ukraine, and the White House spokeswoman said Trump will discuss nuclear weapons reduction while Iran may be discussed but not Ukraine. The planning for the meeting has not yet yielded an agenda or format, and two people familiar with the planning told Reuters that a meeting is expected in Shenzhen where the leaders will attend APEC.
Arms Control and Ukraine
A senior U.S. official told reporters that Trump does not intend to discuss Russia's war with Ukraine during the trilateral meeting, while the White House and Kremlin confirmed the meeting on the sidelines of APEC in Shenzhen. Russia has confirmed the meeting while China has yet to react, and no agreement was expected to follow the talks. Edgard Kagan said, “This is something the Chinese hate,” arguing that the Chinese do not want arms control discussions with the United States and do not want to do it with the United States and Russia.
A nuclear weapons control treaty between the US and Russia expired in February, leaving the world’s biggest nuclear arsenals without major guardrails and effectively marking an end to the arms control co-operation that helped resolve the Cold War. The BBC also reported that the meeting is planned as Trump attends APEC in Shenzhen, and it described the nuclear arms control focus as a response to the February expiration of a US-Russia treaty.
Symbolism, Expectations, and Stakes
The meeting is planned as Trump attends APEC in Shenzhen, and it described the nuclear arms control focus as a response to the February expiration of a US-Russia treaty. The trilateral meeting would be an unprecedented gathering of the heads of the world’s biggest nuclear powers, while analysts expect low chances of major breakthroughs and described the talks as heavier in symbolism than substance. The trilateral meeting is intended to serve as the “beginning of hopefully a conversation” on nuclear disarmament, and it quoted a U.S. official saying no agreements are expected to be announced.
China has yet to confirm that the meeting will take place, and a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said Beijing was “in communication” with relevant parties. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the “new Yalta” comparisons, and he said, “However, let's not forget that the vision for a global order is that no one tries to impose any particular view of global order”.