Trump plans to meet Putin and Xi in China to discuss ending the Iran war

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he plans to travel to China, where he may hold a three-way meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The talks could take place at an Asia-Pacific summit in Shenzhen on 18–19 November. Trump said the discussions would address ending the war in Iran.

"I'm going to be going to China, and one of the meetings I think will be with President Putin and President Xi, and that'll be interesting," Trump said. He added that the leaders would discuss many issues, including denuclearisation, and that the aim is to end the war in Iran.

The Kremlin acknowledged on 21 October that such a meeting was "being prepared". That followed a Wall Street Journal report that Putin wanted trilateral talks to broker a peace deal on Ukraine favourable to Moscow. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Experts doubt substance of talks

Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank, believes the meeting will happen, but says its format and content remain open questions. In her view, China wants the image but not the costs.

Danny Russel, a former senior State Department official under President Barack Obama, said Putin would gain the most from such a meeting, which he described as a diplomatic coup for Russia. Russel added that Trump's advisers had apparently warned him to stay away from the subject of Ukraine.

Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said the meeting could amount to little more than a photo opportunity. He noted that such images bring diminishing diplomatic returns.

Trade truce

Trump is expected to meet Xi in Shenzhen for the third time this year, while a fragile trade truce between Washington and Beijing is set to expire in January. China is hosting this year's leaders' summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), a 21-member grouping that includes both the US and Russia.