Trump, Xi and Putin to hold first trilateral meeting

WASHINGTON:

President Donald Trump will meet jointly next week with China's leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House said Friday, a first-ever trilateral sit-down between the leaders of the three countries.

Trump wants to talk about reducing nuclear arsenals at the trilateral talks on Thursday and is also set to bring up his war in Iran – but he is not expected to discuss Russia's war in Ukraine, US officials said.

The three leaders will meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the southern Chinese city, White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told reporters.

"The President has made it clear that, among other topics, he will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world. This proliferation, President Trump believes, is

very dangerous," Olivia told reporters.

One of the major conflicts dominating Trump's second term as president will feature, but the other will not, the US officials said.

"I think the president does intend to talk about Iran in the trilateral meeting with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin," a senior US official,

speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters on a call.

Washington has a "whole other track" of negotiations with Kyiv and Moscow aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, the official added, referring to talks that US envoys have had in recent days with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"China is not really a part of that track, so it doesn't seem appropriate to have the Ukraine discussion there," the official added.

The Kremlin says that the meeting will take place on November 19 in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, but there has been no confirmation yet from China.

While a trilateral

convention taking this exact formation is

unprecedented, separately the leaders have a wealth of history.

Since becoming

president in 2013, Xi

has met with Putin dozens of times. The pair have built a close alliance, bound by ties that run deep between their nations.