White House: Trump, Xi and Putin to Meet in China Next Week

US President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week in Shenzhen, in southeastern China, the White House announced on Friday. The trilateral meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told reporters that Trump will discuss, among other topics, reducing nuclear weapons worldwide. In her words, the president believes this proliferation is very dangerous.

US officials cited by the AFP news agency said Trump may also raise the Iran war, but not Ukraine. A senior US official, speaking anonymously, said Washington has a "whole other track" of negotiations with Kyiv and Moscow aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. China is not really part of that track, the official said, so raising Ukraine there would not seem appropriate.

Moscow and Beijing have not yet commented on the reported meeting. Trump is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Xi in Shenzhen.

Travel plans

Trump is due to leave Washington on Monday for the Philippines, where he will attend a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) before travelling on to Shenzhen. Officials say Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will join Trump in China but will not take part in the meeting with Xi and Putin.

APEC summit

The 2026 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will bring together leaders of 21 member economies on 18 and 19 November. According to APEC, the summit will focus on artificial intelligence, trade tensions and economic growth. Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, said Beijing looks forward to the event and hopes to achieve "more practical results" with partners in areas such as AI, trade, connectivity and the digital economy.