Trump to hold first-ever meeting with Xi and Putin at APEC summit in China

US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin next week.

The White House confirmed the three-way meeting on Friday.

The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China.

APEC is a group of countries around the Pacific. The talks are expected on Thursday.

This would be the first time the three leaders have met face to face.

A White House spokeswoman said the main goal is to talk about reducing nuclear weapons.

Key points

• Trump, Xi and Putin will hold their first three-way meeting in Shenzhen, China.
• The main topic is reducing nuclear weapons. Trump plans to raise the war in Iran too.
• Ukraine is not expected to be on the trilateral agenda, according to a US official.
• No new agreements are expected to be announced at the meeting.

So what will they actually discuss?

Trump wants to talk about nuclear arms. A US official said he believes the spread of these weapons is very dangerous.

The war in Ukraine is a different matter.

A US official said it does not belong in this meeting, because China is not part of those talks.

The Kremlin, Russia's government office, has said Trump and Putin will discuss a peace settlement in Ukraine on the sidelines.

So the two sides describe the agenda differently.

Why do nuclear weapon talks matter for the world?

A nuclear warhead is the explosive part of a missile.

The United States and Russia each hold more than 5,000 warheads, while China's stockpile is believed to be much smaller.

The New START treaty, the last major arms deal between the US and Russia, expired in February 2026.

Trump has said he wants to include China in future limits.

China has shown limited interest in joining such talks before.

So a meeting of all three leaders is a big step, even if no deal is signed.

What happens next after the Shenzhen meeting?

Trump will leave Washington on Monday.

He will attend a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Philippines on Tuesday.

After that, he will travel to Shenzhen for the APEC leaders' meeting on November 18 and 19.

Officials say the trilateral meeting could be the start of a longer conversation.

Sources

• Mint: In a first, Trump to hold historic trilateral meeting with Xi, Putin in China next week | All you need to know
• Hindustan Times: Trump to hold first-ever joint meeting with Xi and Putin on the sidelines of APEC in China
• Yahoo: Historic first summit for Trump, Xi, Putin will not focus on Ukraine, White House says