Trump open to meeting Putin and Xi, but no summit agreed

US President Donald Trump said on 19 October that he would be willing to meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, potentially during next month’s APEC gathering in China. He suggested nuclear weapons as a subject, but the three leaders have not agreed to a meeting or an agenda. [2] [10]

“If President Xi wants to have it, I’d have it,” Trump told reporters. He said they could discuss nuclear weapons and denuclearisation, as well as trade. APEC’s meeting of economic leaders is scheduled for 18 and 19 November in Shenzhen; that event is not itself a three-way summit. [2] [7]

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a possible meeting had been discussed but that he did not know whether anything had been finalised. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also acknowledged the possibility, while saying that no substantive proposals or agreements on a meeting or its agenda had been put forward. Asked about the idea on 19 October, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she had no information to share. [10] [4]

Trump’s suggested nuclear topic faces a particular obstacle. On 16 October, China said it would not be fair, reasonable or realistic at this stage to ask it to join trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations with the US and Russia, citing the difference in the size of their arsenals. Five days before Trump’s remarks, Peskov had called a three-way discussion of reducing nuclear arsenals unlikely. Those positions concern disarmament negotiations, not every possible meeting between the leaders. [5] [6]

The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin had raised a three-way meeting during a 9 October call with Trump, citing a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter. The Washington Post separately reported that Putin had raised an APEC meeting, citing a person familiar with Russian discussions. Both accounts rest on unnamed sources, and Peskov’s public description stops short of an agreed proposal. [8] [9] [10]

The reports have also raised the question of Ukraine’s place in any talks about the war. Trump said it was time for someone else to negotiate on Ukraine’s behalf; that was his preference, not a decision about its representation. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha objected to discussing peace without Kyiv. Peskov said a final settlement would require someone from Kyiv to take part. [3] [11] [10]