Washington, October 20, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
US President Donald Trump has expressed willingness to hold a trilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss nuclear arms reductions, potentially during his planned visit to China next month.
Speaking to reporters before leaving the White House on Monday, Trump said nuclear disarmament, rather than the war in Ukraine, should be the main focus of any such meeting.
“I would do it, not so much for Ukraine, we would have it to talk about denuclearization,” he said.
His remarks followed reports that Putin had proposed a meeting involving the leaders of the United States, China and Russia on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit scheduled to take place in Shenzhen in November. However, no formal agreement on a trilateral summit has been announced, and the three governments have not confirmed a shared agenda or timetable for negotiations.
Trump has repeatedly voiced interest in an agreement to reduce nuclear arsenals, acknowledging that negotiations would be challenging given the differences in the size and composition of the three countries’ stockpiles.
The United States and Russia possess the world’s largest nuclear arsenals, while China has been expanding its capabilities. Beijing has resisted calls for trilateral disarmament negotiations, arguing that its arsenal remains considerably smaller than those of Washington and Moscow.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry reiterated last week that expecting China to join three-way nuclear disarmament talks at this stage was neither fair nor realistic.
The proposed initiative comes amid uncertainty over global arms-control arrangements following the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, earlier this year. The agreement had capped deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 for each of the United States and Russia and imposed limits on deployed delivery systems.
Arms-control specialists have warned that the absence of a successor agreement could weaken transparency and intensify competition among nuclear powers.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said meaningful negotiations would require detailed proposals and sustained diplomatic engagement.
While Russia has indicated that a meeting involving Trump and Xi could also address Ukraine, Trump’s latest remarks suggest he wants nuclear arms control to take priority in any three-way discussions.
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