If the meeting goes ahead, it would bring three leaders with sharply different priorities to one table.
US President Donald Trump has said he expects to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit in Shenzhen, China. According to TRT World, Trump told reporters on Sunday that one of his meetings in China would be with Putin and Xi, adding that it would be interesting. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is scheduled for Shenzhen on 18-19 November.
Trump said the discussions could cover several issues, including nuclear disarmament and efforts to end the war on Iran. Quoted by TRT World, he said the leaders would talk about a lot of things, including denuclearisation, and that they were trying to end the war in Iran. The reference to Iran is notable, but the report gives no detail on what the war on Iran involves at this point or what role Moscow and Beijing might play in ending it.
The Kremlin said on 21 October that preparations were under way for a first-of-its-kind trilateral meeting involving the three leaders. That announcement, according to the report, followed a Wall Street Journal report that Putin wanted the talks to help broker a peace deal in Ukraine on terms favourable to Moscow, which launched its full-scale war against the country in 2022. The report does not say whether Washington or Beijing have confirmed the trilateral format, nor what terms either side would bring to such a discussion.
Trump's willingness to meet Putin comes amid criticism in the United States over his engagement with leaders of countries including Russia and China. His efforts to hold talks with the Russian president have also drawn attention to his approach to ending Moscow's international isolation following its war in Ukraine. The report does not identify the critics or the substance of their objections.
If the meeting goes ahead, it would bring three leaders with sharply different priorities to one table. For Moscow, the reported aim is a peace settlement on favourable terms; for Washington, denuclearisation and Iran; for Beijing, the prestige and leverage of hosting. Whether a trilateral format can produce anything beyond a photograph is not yet known. The report does not confirm that Putin or Xi have agreed to meet Trump, and no agenda, venue or timing beyond the summit dates has been disclosed. The Kremlin's October statement described preparations, not a confirmed event.
What is clear is that the summit has become a test of whether Trump's personal diplomacy can deliver concrete outcomes with two of America's principal strategic rivals. The report offers no indication of what those outcomes might be, and officials quoted by TRT World gave no further detail. Until the three governments confirm the meeting and its agenda, the encounter remains an expectation voiced by one leader rather than a settled fact.
