United States (US) President, Donald Trump, Russian President, Vladimir Putin and Chinese President, Xi Jinping, are set to hold an unprecedented meeting next week, with nuclear weapons and the ongoing war involving Iran expected to dominate discussions.
Naija News reports that the White House confirmed on Friday that the three leaders would meet on Thursday, November 19, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China.
The meeting will be the first time the leaders of the three major world powers will hold a joint meeting of this nature.
According to US officials, Trump wants to use the meeting to discuss reducing nuclear weapons across the world, which he considers a major threat to global security.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said the US president believes the growing spread of nuclear weapons is dangerous and wants the three countries to discuss ways to reduce their stockpiles.
A senior US official also confirmed that Trump plans to raise the ongoing war involving Iran during the meeting with Putin and Xi.
However, the US president is not expected to discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine at the gathering.
The official explained that Washington was already holding separate discussions with Moscow and Kyiv over the conflict, adding that China was not directly involved in that negotiation process.
The official said it would therefore not be appropriate to bring the Ukraine conflict into the three-way meeting.
According to reports by international media outlets, expectations are low that the meeting will produce an immediate agreement, with US officials describing it as an opportunity to begin discussions on nuclear weapons reduction.
The planned meeting has also attracted attention because of its possible implications for the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed concern that the gathering could become similar to the 1945 Yalta Conference, where the leaders of the United States, Britain and the then Soviet Union discussed the post-World War II arrangement and territorial boundaries in Europe.
Zelensky fears the Shenzhen meeting could become an opportunity for powerful countries to discuss the future of smaller nations and divide the world into areas of influence without involving those directly affected.
The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly opposed any arrangement concerning his country’s future without Kyiv’s participation.
However, the White House has maintained that the Ukraine conflict will not be part of the planned three-way discussions.
Before the three-way meeting, Trump is expected to hold a separate meeting and working lunch with Xi Jinping on Thursday.
The meeting will be their fourth since Trump returned to the White House last year.
However, the US president has no separate one-on-one meeting scheduled with Putin during the visit.
Another issue expected to stay out of Trump’s discussions with Xi is the controversy surrounding Nvidia Chief Executive Officer, Jensen Huang, who reportedly resigned following an alleged affair involving a suspected Chinese spy.
A senior US official said the matter would not affect Trump’s visit or his discussions with the Chinese leader.
The official also ruled out discussions on American restrictions on the export of sensitive computer chip technology to China, insisting that such decisions were national security matters handled by the US government.
Meanwhile, billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who owns Tesla and SpaceX, will accompany Trump on the China trip but will not participate in the meeting with Xi and Putin.
Trump is expected to leave Washington on Monday and arrive in the Philippines on Tuesday for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit before travelling to Shenzhen, China.
