Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are set to take part in an unprecedented three-way meeting next week, marking the US president’s first overseas trip since the midterm elections.
The leaders of the United States, China and Russia are expected to meet Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China’s technology powerhouse. The gathering will bring together the leaders of the world’s three largest nuclear powers.
Although the meeting would represent a rare diplomatic moment, analysts have cautioned against expecting major breakthroughs. They say the encounter is likely to carry more symbolic weight than produce concrete agreements.
Trump intends to discuss the war in Iran with Xi and Putin but will avoid raising the conflict in Ukraine, according to a senior US official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
The trip comes as controversy continues to surround Nvidia after CEO Jensen Huang was reportedly ousted over an extramarital affair involving an alleged agent of the Chinese government.
Beijing has rejected claims that Alice Huang is a spy. Her company, Megaspeed, was accused last year of helping move Nvidia’s advanced computer chips into China.
Trump is not expected to confront Chinese President Xi Jinping over the matter. Administration officials also said they do not anticipate Chinese retaliation if Washington takes further steps to prevent China from obtaining or using advanced chips.
The administration maintains that the Nvidia controversy should not affect the trip, arguing that US export-control decisions are not bargaining chips in negotiations with foreign governments.
Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are preparing for an unprecedented meeting during the US president’s first foreign trip since the midterm elections.
The US, Chinese and Russian leaders plan to meet Thursday alongside the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China’s technology hub.
Trump’s advisers are weighing ways to close gaps in existing trade restrictions, including tighter export licensing rules and measures aimed at stopping Chinese companies from accessing advanced chips remotely over the internet.
The White House confirmed plans for the three-way summit on Friday, at a particularly delicate point in relations among the three countries.
Trump has cultivated a warmer relationship with Xi since the two sides reached a truce in their brief trade conflict last year, despite ongoing disputes over Iran and other tensions between the world’s leading economic powers.
He has likewise sought closer ties with Putin, even as the Russian president continues his nearly five-year war in Ukraine and Moscow expands its military, intelligence and diplomatic cooperation with Iran.
Trump has argued that a three-way meeting could give the leaders an opportunity to discuss the US war with Iran and pursue an agreement covering the nuclear arsenals of all three countries.
The last nuclear arms treaty between Russia and the United States expired in February, ending limits on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than 50 years. After New START lapsed, Trump rejected Moscow’s proposal to extend the agreement for one year and instead called for a “new, improved and modernized” pact that would also include China.
The trilateral summit is meant to be the “beginning of hopefully a conversation” about nuclear disarmament that could become productive over time, the US official said. No agreements are expected to be announced during the meeting.
According to Pentagon estimates, China has more than 600 nuclear warheads—far fewer than the more than 5,000 believed to be held by both the United States and Russia. With its arsenal considerably smaller, Beijing has shown little interest in entering a nuclear arms-control agreement.
A senior US official said Trump plans to discuss the Iran war with Xi and Putin but does not intend to raise the Ukraine conflict.
The trip follows controversy over Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s reported removal after an alleged affair involving a suspected Chinese agent. Trump is not expected to discuss the matter with Xi.
Trump administration officials acknowledge that Beijing may be reluctant to engage on the size of its nuclear arsenal. Still, the US official described the summit as an opportunity for China to “step up … to the adult table” on an issue of global importance.
By agreeing to host the talks, Xi may also see a chance to highlight China’s growing influence and international standing.
For the Kremlin, the summit offers an opportunity to present Russia as a global superpower on equal footing with Washington and Beijing.
The three-way meeting could overshadow the wider APEC summit, which will bring together 21 economies in Shenzhen. The event also gives China a stage to showcase the coastal city’s transformation from a small fishing village into a major global technology and economic center within a few decades.
The gathering could also complicate China’s argument that a Cold War mindset in the West helped contribute to Russia’s war in Ukraine. It may further weaken Beijing’s criticism that the United States has damaged international institutions and treaties through its conduct of the war against Iran.
The meeting may undermine China’s efforts to portray itself as a champion of free trade at APEC, said Hoo Tiang Boon, a Chinese foreign-policy professor at Nanyang Technological University.
“You sort of run counter to Chinese support of multilateralism,” he said.
Putin and Xi have long maintained a close relationship. Since Xi became president in 2013, the two men have met more than 40 times and routinely addressed one another as “dear friend.”
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, left, and his wife, Lori Huang, arrive at the White House for a state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Huang was photographed several times with Alice Huang, the woman accused of being a Chinese spy, beginning in 2024.
Trump and Putin have met in person seven times, most recently in Alaska in August 2025.
Xi and Trump have held face-to-face talks on eight occasions, including Xi’s state visit to Washington in September.
China is Russia’s largest trading partner, and economic ties between the two countries have grown stronger since Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022.
As the European Union and other Western nations moved to isolate Moscow economically, China increased its purchases of Russian energy and became a key supplier of technology, including high-tech components used by Russia’s defense industry. Beijing has ignored Western calls to halt those exports.
Before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Xi and Putin described the relationship between their countries as a “no-limits friendship.”
China officially maintains that it is neutral in the conflict, while arguing that Kyiv’s Western allies helped provoke Russia’s military action.
Moscow, meanwhile, has repeatedly backed Beijing’s position on issues involving Taiwan.
Trump recently reached a diesel agreement with Russia, lifting sanctions on Moscow and permitting the sale of millions of tons of fuel.
The Nvidia chief was seen with Ms. Huang at a computer-industry trade show in Taipei in 2024. Source: LinkedIn/NetThunder
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the three-way summit could allow the leaders to discuss a Ukraine agreement without Kyiv’s participation.
The president has blamed rising energy prices on Ukrainian attacks against Russian oil refineries. Analysts, however, say the main driver of higher global crude prices has been the war involving Iran.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced concern that the summit could become a venue for negotiating a possible Ukraine settlement behind Kyiv’s back.
Preparations for the meeting have drawn comparisons with the 1945 Yalta Conference, where the leaders of the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union agreed to divide Germany and Berlin into four occupation zones and completed plans for creating the United Nations.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the comparison, saying any potential agreements reached in Shenzhen could not be imposed on other countries.
“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. It should be based entirely on mutual benefit and mutual respect.”