The leaders of the United States, China and Russia plan to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China's tech hub of Shenzhen — an unprecedented gathering of the heads of the world's biggest nuclear powers, the Associated Press reported.
Source: Associated Press, Nov 13, 2026
Plans for the three-way meeting between Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin were confirmed on Friday by the White House, AP said. This is a new development from the position reported earlier this month: on November 8, Trump said only that he expected such a meeting, and on November 4 China confirmed that talks about a possible meeting were under way.
Source: Associated Press, Nov 13, 2026
Read the earlier report: on November 8, Trump said he expected a three-way meeting with Xi and Putin at the Shenzhen APEC summit, with the Iran war and denuclearization on his agenda. Trump says he expects Xi-Putin trilateral at APEC
Trump does plan on discussing the Iran war with Xi and Putin, but will steer away from discussing Ukraine, a senior US official said, according to AP. AFP, reporting the same Friday briefing, likewise said Trump will discuss the Iran war with his Chinese and Russian counterparts in trilateral talks in China next week, but is not expected to talk about Russia's war on Ukraine.
Source: AFP via Pakistan TV live blog, Nov 13, 2026
The trilateral meeting is expected to serve as a start to nuclear talks between the three leaders, and no agreements are expected to be announced, according to the senior US official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, AP reported.
Source: Associated Press, Nov 13, 2026
Nuclear talks after New START
The last nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States expired in February, removing caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century. When that treaty — New START — expired, Trump rejected a call by Russia to extend the two-country deal for another year and called for a "new, improved and modernized" deal that includes China, AP reported.
Source: Associated Press, Nov 13, 2026
Beijing's arsenal of more than 600 warheads, according to Pentagon estimates, is far smaller than the inventories held by the US and Russia, each estimated to have more than 5,000 warheads. With its arsenal dwarfed by the other two, China has shown little interest in developing a nuclear pact, AP said.
Source: Associated Press, Nov 13, 2026
Analysts say expectations are low that the talks will lead to major breakthroughs, and that the meeting will be heavier in symbolism than substance. "I think the key for Putin was that this was very much about signaling a desire to talk to the president and talk to Chairman Xi in a way that suggests that they're making decisions on Ukraine, which obviously the Ukrainians and the Europeans don't like," said Edgard Kagan, a former US ambassador to Malaysia now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, quoted by AP.
Source: Associated Press, Nov 13, 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed concern that the trilateral meeting could serve as a platform for discussing a possible Ukraine deal behind Kyiv's back, AP reported.
Source: Associated Press, Nov 13, 2026
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed comparisons with the 1945 Yalta Conference, noting that any potential agreements reached in Shenzhen cannot be enforced on others. "It's clear that a meeting between the leaders of countries such as Russia, China and the United States is extremely significant," Peskov said. "However, let's not forget that the vision for a global order is that no one tries to impose any particular view of global order, and it should be based entirely on mutual benefit and mutual respect."
Source: Associated Press, Nov 13, 2026
What happens next: the APEC summit brings 21 economies to Shenzhen next week, with the trilateral meeting planned for Thursday, November 19. By agreeing to host it, Xi may be calculating that the moment offers him a chance to flex China's growing clout, AP's analysis said, while for the Kremlin the meeting is a coveted chance to posture as a superpower on par with Washington and Beijing.