Trump will meet with Putin and Xi Jinping at a historic trilateral summit to discuss nuclear arms control and the war with Iran
Although Trump said earlier this month that he hoped to meet with Xi and Putin, the meeting had not been confirmed until now.
Trump and Xi in a file photo.
The White House announced on Friday that President Donald Trump will meet next week with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, to be held in China. The Republican administration also noted that one of the main issues Trump intends to address with his counterparts will be nuclear arms control, an issue he considers particularly dangerous for international security. "The President has made it clear that, among other topics, he will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world. This proliferation, President Trump believes, is very dangerous," White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told reporters.
Although Trump commented earlier this month that he hoped to hold a meeting with Xi and Putin, the meeting had not been confirmed until now. According to The Hill, a senior administration official, whose name was not disclosed, mentioned that, while Trump is not expected to bring up Ukraine, the war with Iran will be one of the key topics during the meeting. Despite this, the official told the outlet that the meeting is not expected to result in concrete agreements on nuclear arms control—an important issue for the White House, given that the latest strategic arms control treaty between Washington and Moscow, known as New START, officially expired in February.
The official also noted that Trump is also not expected to discuss with Xi the scandal surrounding the resignation of Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, following an extramarital affair with an alleged Chinese spy. Similarly, Washington does not plan to discuss restrictions on exports of advanced chip technology, one of the central issues in the Nvidia scandal. "We do not negotiate American export controls. These are national security matters that we develop in the administration... and we don't expect it to figure at all in any of our conversations with the Chinese while we're there," the official added.
Meanwhile, the AFP reported that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will accompany Trump on his trip to China, but will not take part in the meeting with Putin and Xi. The Republican president also plans to hold a bilateral working lunch and meet with the Chinese president on Thursday, marking the fourth meeting between the two since the U.S. president returned to office last year.
Trump has not met in person with Putin since the summit held in Alaska last August, which focused on their efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. On the other hand, Trump hosted the Chinese leader at the White House in September, during a visit in which the Republican president showed Xi a framed photograph of himself hanging on a West Wing wall and later showed him the new granite helipad he had installed at the presidential residence.
🛠 Do you think there is an error in this article?
Recommendations
LATEST
