The White House says President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 19, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The planned three-way meeting is expected to include discussion of nuclear arms reductions and Iran, but a U.S. official said Washington does not expect an agreement to emerge.

What the leaders are expected to discuss

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said Trump would raise the possibility of reducing nuclear weapons with Xi and Putin, according to reporting by Reuters and The Associated Press. A U.S. official described the meeting as an opening conversation rather than a negotiating session likely to produce a deal. The Iran war is also expected to come up; the White House official said Ukraine would not be on the agenda.

The meeting is planned alongside the APEC leaders’ summit in Shenzhen. The White House announcement turns an earlier possibility into a scheduled event: The Globuzz previously reported Trump’s expectation that Xi and Putin might meet, when Beijing had not confirmed the plan.

Why a nuclear arms deal is not expected

The talks would take place after the New START treaty between Washington and Moscow expired in February 2026, ending the last U.S.-Russia agreement that capped their strategic nuclear arsenals. Reuters and AP both report that the White House does not expect the three leaders to reach a replacement agreement at this meeting.

China’s arsenal is much smaller than those of the United States and Russia, though it has been expanding. The Associated Press, citing Pentagon estimates, reports that China has more than 600 nuclear warheads, compared with more than 5,000 each for the United States and Russia. Those estimates underscore why the three countries would enter any arms-control discussion from different positions; they do not establish that Beijing has agreed to join negotiations.

A planned meeting, with open questions

The White House confirmation sets a date and broad agenda, but it does not indicate that the leaders have settled on a process for future arms-control talks. The stated expectation of no agreement also distinguishes the meeting from a signed treaty or a formal three-country negotiation. Any outcome will depend on whether the discussion produces a follow-up process after the summit.

Sources

Reuters: Trump to raise nuclear-arms cuts with Putin and Xi, White House says

The Associated Press: Trump, Xi and Putin plan meeting during APEC summit in China