US, China and Russia leaders set for first-ever joint summit in Shenzhen

The leaders of the United States, China and Russia plan to meet on November 19, 2026, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, marking an unprecedented gathering of the heads of the world's biggest nuclear powers.

Summit Focus

Plans for the three-way meeting with Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin were confirmed by the White House on Friday, November 13, 2026. Mr. Trump stated the meeting will allow the three leaders to discuss the U.S. war with Iran and his goal of reaching a three-way agreement on nuclear arms stockpiles. The last nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States expired in February, removing caps on the two largest atomic arsenals. Mr. Trump rejected a Russian call to extend that deal and called for a new pact that includes China. Beijing holds more than 600 warheads, a much smaller inventory than the thousands held by the U.S. and Russia, and China has shown little interest in joining such a pact.

Reactions

Analysts expect the talks to be heavier in symbolism than substance, with low chances of major breakthroughs. Edgard Kagan, a former U.S. ambassador to Malaysia now at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said he would be shocked if a joint statement mentioned denuclearisation, noting the meeting offers Mr. Xi a chance to flex China's clout. For the Kremlin, the summit is a coveted chance to posture as a superpower on par with Washington and Beijing, while signaling a desire to discuss decisions on Ukraine without Kyiv or European input. Hoo Tiang Boon, a professor at Nanyang Technological University, noted the trilateral could undercut China's push to portray itself as a defender of free trade and multilateralism at APEC. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed concern that the meeting could serve as a platform for discussing a possible Ukraine deal behind Kyiv's back. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed comparisons to the 1945 Yalta Conference, noting that potential agreements reached in Shenzhen cannot be enforced on others.

Context

Global nuclear arms control has traditionally relied on bilateral treaties between Washington and Moscow, making any framework that attempts to incorporate Beijing a major shift in strategic diplomacy. Shenzhen, the host city for this year's APEC summit, represents China's rapid rise from a small fishing village into a global technology hub over recent decades. Major geopolitical powers frequently use international summits as backdrops for high-level bilateral and trilateral engagements outside the formal agenda of the host organization.