Trump Says He’ll Hold U.S.-China-Russia Summit Next Month if China Wants

[Financial News] U.S. President Donald Trump said he was willing to take part in a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Russia and China. He said nuclear weapons and denuclearization would be discussed at the meeting.
According to local media outlets including CNBC, Trump spoke with reporters at the White House on the 19th (local time) and mentioned the possibility of a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Asked whether he had agreed to hold a trilateral meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, in November, he replied, “I haven’t agreed, but I’d be willing to do that.” Trump said, “If Xi Jinping wants to, I’ll have a meeting.”
The previous day, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing a former Russian intelligence official, that Russia had proposed a trilateral meeting. According to the official, Putin proposed during a call with Trump on the 9th that only the leaders of the United States, China and Russia meet, without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Another official said Russia had mentioned the APEC Summit on November 18–19 as a possible venue for the trilateral meeting. During his state visit to the United States, Xi invited Trump and his wife to the APEC meeting on the 25th of last month. The WSJ said China would not oppose the meeting if Trump agreed.
In an interview on the 19th, Trump said of the trilateral meeting, “It’s not for Ukraine. To be honest, Russia has been fine with Ukraine. Russia hasn’t done much, and China hasn’t either.” Asked whether he planned to discuss ending the war at the meeting without Zelensky, he said, “I’ll do whatever it takes to end the war, whether someone is there or not.”
Trump did, however, make clear that nuclear issues would be the main topic if the trilateral meeting takes place. “I’m going to China in November to discuss denuclearization, so they [Xi and Putin] want to meet according to my proposal,” he said. He added, “If we achieve denuclearization, I’ll have done something great for the world.”
[email protected] Park Jong-won Reporter