Donald Trump has said he would be willing to hold three-way arms-control talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, raising the prospect of a meeting between the leaders of the world’s three largest nuclear powers.
Speaking outside the White House, the US president said the discussions would focus on nuclear weapons and denuclearisation, but could also cover trade.
“We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearisation,” Mr Trump said. “If President Xi wants to have it, I’d have it. I’m sure we’d talk about other things like trade too.”
The White House has reportedly been discussing a possible meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in China on November 18 and 19. A person familiar with the matter said the proposed talks would focus on denuclearisation.
The Kremlin has said the possibility of such a meeting had been raised in discussions. Mr Putin later suggested using it to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine in a way that would favour Moscow, according to a report cited in the raw briefing.
Mr Trump has sought to improve relations with both Beijing and Moscow as China and Russia have drawn closer. In recent days, he announced a diesel-fuel agreement with Russia and signed an order waiving key sanctions on Moscow.
The three leaders have held separate meetings, but have never conducted formal talks together. Any agreement between them could reduce global tensions, while arrangements made without European or other allied governments could cause concern over the future of Washington’s alliances.
Mr Trump said he would be prepared to take part in the meeting, but played down the role of Ukraine. “I would do it, not so much for Ukraine because Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine,” he said.
He added: “(Ukraine President Volodymyr) Zelenskiy is not helping matters much. It’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.”
The comments came as Moscow launched one of its broadest air assaults on Ukraine in months. The attacks damaged energy infrastructure, cut power to more than half a million households and reportedly killed 10 people.
Mr Trump has yet to fulfil his campaign pledge to bring the war in Ukraine to a swift end.
