Donald Trump is to hold a joint meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during a summit in China next week, the White House has said.
The talks will be Mr Trump’s third in-person meeting with Mr Xi this year. He is expected to discuss the war against Iran, while the administration does not expect him to raise Russia’s war with Ukraine.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said nuclear proliferation would also be on the agenda. “The president has made it clear that, among other topics, he will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world, whose proliferation President Trump believes is very dangerous,” she told reporters.
Two senior administration officials said Mr Trump would travel to an Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in Manila early next week before continuing to Shenzhen for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. He is due to meet Mr Xi separately and then hold talks with both Mr Xi and Mr Putin.
Mr Trump is prepared to address what one official described as the “difficult” issue of China’s nuclear arsenal. US officials have expressed concern about the growth of Beijing’s weapons stockpile, which is on course to reach 1,000 warheads by 2030.
The officials said the discussions were not expected to produce an agreement on nuclear proliferation, describing them instead as a starting point. The talks will also take place after a US nuclear arms-control treaty with Russia expired in February.
Billionaire Elon Musk is expected to accompany Mr Trump to Shenzhen, although officials said he would not take part in the three-way meeting with Mr Xi and Mr Putin.
