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Politics United States · China · Russia

Planned Trump-Xi-Putin meeting in Shenzhen

Trump said on Nov 8 that he expects to meet Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin together at the APEC summit in Shenzhen on Nov 18-19. Beijing and Moscow say talks on a three-leader meeting are under way, but no date, format or agenda has been announced.

Confidence: medium. On-record statements by Trump, the Kremlin and China's foreign ministry are reported the same way by AP, AFP, Euronews, Al Jazeera, CGTN and Anadolu. The format dispute and China's conditions rest on unnamed officials in a Wall Street Journal report seen here only as relayed by Nocut News and EADaily, and none of the three governments has announced that the meeting is confirmed. · Updated 11 Nov 2026, 2pm ET

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Why it matters: The three countries hold most of the world's nuclear warheads, about 5,420 for Russia, 5,042 for the US and 620 for China by the SIPRI Yearbook 2026 count, and the last US-Russia arms treaty, New START, expired in February with no successor talks under way. source

What's happening

The Kremlin has floated a first three-way meeting of the leaders of the US, China and Russia since September, with the APEC leaders' summit that China hosts in Shenzhen on Nov 18-19 as the setting; AFP reports the Kremlin said on Oct 21 that such a meeting was being prepared. On Nov 3 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Financial Times that work was under way to organise it, said he hoped it would be finalised within days and called China, as host, the main organiser (The Moscow Times; Anadolu). On Nov 4 Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China was in communication with relevant parties about a meeting of the three heads of state, Beijing's first public acknowledgment, without giving a date or agenda (CGTN; AP). On Nov 8 Trump told reporters that one of his meetings in China would be with Putin and Xi and that they would discuss denuclearisation, adding that he is trying to end the war with Iran (Euronews; AFP). The parties want different things on the table. Trump has named nuclear arms control, while China's foreign ministry said in October that asking it to join three-way disarmament talks was neither fair nor realistic (Al Jazeera). Moscow wants to discuss the war in Ukraine, without Kyiv taking part (AP; The Moscow Times), while German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Xi told him on Oct 30 that the three would probably meet but not discuss Ukraine (Al Jazeera). A Wall Street Journal report, relayed on Nov 10 by Nocut News and EADaily, says Beijing wants a scripted event built on prepared statements and the US wants an open exchange. Trump is also expected to hold his third meeting with Xi this year, with a US-China trade truce due to expire in January (AP).

What changed recently

Key figures

5,420; 5,042; 620Nuclear warheads held by Russia, the US and ChinaSIPRI Yearbook 2026, as cited by Nocut News · 2026-11-10 · source
Nov 18-19, 2026Dates of the APEC leaders' summit in ShenzhenCGTN, reporting China's foreign ministry briefing · 2026-11-04 · source
21Members of APEC, including the US and RussiaAssociated Press · 2026-11-06 · source

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