What happened
The White House announced that President Donald Trump will hold a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Shenzhen, China, on Thursday, November 19. The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and marks the first formal three-way gathering of the leaders of the United States, China, and Russia.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said President Trump intends to discuss reducing nuclear arsenals during the talks. She described nuclear proliferation as very dangerous. The president is also expected to raise the war in Iran.
U.S. officials said the discussion is not expected to include Russia's war in Ukraine. A senior official explained that Washington maintains a separate track of negotiations with Kyiv and Moscow to end that conflict, and China is not part of that track.
Export controls on sensitive chip technology will also not be part of the conversation, according to officials. They stated that American export controls are national security matters developed within the administration and are not subject to negotiation with China.
President Trump will travel to the Philippines on Tuesday for an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit before proceeding to Shenzhen. Elon Musk will accompany the president on the trip to China but will not participate in the meeting with Xi and Putin.
The Kremlin confirmed the meeting on Saturday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described a meeting between the leaders of Russia, China, and the United States as extremely significant, while dismissing comparisons to the 1945 Yalta Conference.
