US President Donald Trump wants to meet with China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin at the upcoming meeting of leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) in China, which might include talks on Iran’s war and the prevention of nuclear proliferation.
At a press conference Sunday, before heading back to Washington from his trip to Florida, Trump stated he would attend the APEC summit, which will be held in Shenzhen Nov. 18-19.
Trump said one of the meetings will be with “President Putin and President Xi” and that’ll be “interesting.” The leaders will address critical matters such as an Iran arms freeze and failure to end the ongoing conflict in Iran, he added.
If the planned summit is made, the summit could be a gathering of the world’s top three powers at a pivotal moment in international diplomacy. In an October interview, Trump signaled a willingness to hold three-way arms control talks with Xi and Putin that would feature denuclearisation as a central issue.
In the meantime, a report indicated that Putin has proposed the same potential meeting be used for Ukraine also to discuss an end to Russia’s long-running war in Ukraine.
A day in advance of the APEC summit, Trump has indicated that he will be ready to talk directly to Xi and Putin on a number of global hot-button subjects, everything from multiple conflicts and security issues to fresh talks on the acquisition of hectares and acres of North American land by the Asian nations.