The leaders of the United States, China and Russia plan to meet on Thursday, November 19, 2026, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, in what would be the first joint meeting of the heads of the world’s three biggest nuclear powers.
The White House confirmed the plan on Friday, November 13, ValidViewNetwork reports. The three leaders have met separately before, but never formally together.
WHAT IS ON THE TABLE
Trump wants to discuss the US war with Iran and a three-way agreement on nuclear stockpiles. A senior US official briefed reporters that he will avoid Ukraine.
The official said the meeting is meant to begin nuclear talks and that no agreements are expected. IANS reported that Elon Musk is expected to join Trump for parts of the China visit but will not take part in the bilateral meeting with Xi or the trilateral.
WHY NUCLEAR TALKS MATTER NOW
New START, the last US-Russia nuclear pact, expired in February. That removed caps on the two largest arsenals for the first time in more than 50 years.
Trump rejected a Russian call to extend it by a year and demanded a “new, improved and modernized” deal that includes China.
China is cool on the idea. Pentagon estimates put its arsenal at over 600 warheads, against more than 5,000 each for the US and Russia. Its foreign ministry said in October that expecting it to join three-way disarmament talks was neither fair, reasonable nor realistic.
THREE LEADERS, THREE CALCULATIONS
Xi may see a chance to show China’s rising clout. The Kremlin sees a chance to look like a superpower alongside Washington and Beijing.
Edgard Kagan, a former US ambassador to Malaysia now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Putin wants to signal that the three leaders are making decisions on Ukraine.
Ukrainians and Europeans dislike that idea.
Hoo Tiang Boon of Nanyang Technological University said the trilateral could cut against China’s image as a defender of multilateralism and free trade at APEC.
Analysts add that it could weaken Beijing’s claim that Western Cold War thinking helped trigger the Ukraine war.
THE BACKDROP
Putin and Xi have met over 40 times since 2013. Trump has met Putin seven times, most recently in Alaska in August 2025, and has held eight face-to-face talks with Xi, including a September state visit to Washington.
Beijing is Moscow’s top trading partner and a key supplier of technology for its weapons industry. Trump recently struck a diesel deal with Russia that waives sanctions.
He blames high energy prices on Ukrainian attacks on refineries, though analysts point mainly to the Iran war.
UKRAINE’S FEAR AND THE KREMLIN’S REPLY
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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced concern that the meeting could become a platform for a Ukraine deal behind Kyiv’s back. Comparisons to the 1945 Yalta Conference have followed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed them, saying any agreement reached in Shenzhen cannot be imposed on others. ValidViewNetwork reports.