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During APEC in Shenzhen, Trump will hold his first three-party talks with Xi Jinping and Putin. The main topics are nuclear weapons proliferation and the possibility of a new agreement. However, it is generally believed that there will be no significant consequences in the short term.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ConferenceAPEC ) The Leaders Summit is scheduled to be held in Shenzhen, China from 18th to 19th. The White House said on the 13th that President Trump will meet with the Chinese PresidentXi Jinping President of RussiaPutin The leaders of the three countries will hold a historic trilateral meeting on the 19th, in which the focus of the discussion will be on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.
CNN reported that Trump had said he believed discussing the issue could lead to a new agreement. White House spokeswoman Olivia Wells told reporters, “The President has made clear that he will discuss, among other issues, how to reduce the number of nuclear weapons around the world. President Trump believes nuclear proliferation is very dangerous.”
The last significant nuclear weapons treaty between the United States and Russia, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START Treaty), expired in February this year, and no new treaty was signed, leaving the world’s two largest nuclear weapons powers without an agreement for the first time in decades. The US government has always believed that any upcoming agreement should include China, as China’s nuclear arsenal is growing faster than that of the United States and Russia.
Officials downplayed the prospect of a new nuclear weapons agreement and suggested the talks were more of a starting point for negotiations. A senior US official said: “We do not expect any kind of agreement. I would describe this meeting as an entry point, the first conversation at the leadership level of these countries. … This is the beginning of a conversation that will hopefully continue into the future and achieve substantial results.”
Officials said the leaders also planned to discuss Iran. Apart from his entourage, Trump is also expected to be joined by Elon Musk on the trip, but he is not expected to attend the three-way meeting, a senior US official said.
NBC News reported that the Pentagon estimates that Beijing has more than 600 nuclear warheads, much smaller than the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia, which are estimated to have more than 5,000 nuclear warheads. Since the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia far exceed those of China, China has no interest in reaching a nuclear deal.
When the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expired, Russia proposed extending the bilateral agreement for one year, but Trump rejected it. He called for a “new, better and modern” agreement to include China.
The meeting is taking place at a time when relations between the United States, China and Russia are complex. The United States and China are at odds over the Iran war and other strained relations. However, Trump has shown a friendly attitude towards Chinese President Xi Jinping and actively made good friends with him even after the brief trade war between the two sides ended last year. The war started by Putin in Ukraine has lasted for almost five years, and Moscow’s military, intelligence and diplomatic cooperation with Iran is deepening day by day. Despite this, Trump is still trying to establish close relations with Putin.
Summary FAQ
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The White House said that this historic trilateral meeting will be held in Shenzhen, China from 18th to 19th. The leaders of the three countries are expected to meet in a key meeting on the sidelines of the APEC leaders’ summit on the 19th.
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The talks focused on preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and discussing the possibility of reducing the number of nuclear weapons around the world. Trump has said that a new agreement can be reached through relevant talks. He believes that the proliferation of nuclear weapons is extremely dangerous.
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Since the last significant nuclear weapons treaty between the United States and Russia has expired, China’s nuclear arsenal is still much smaller than that of the United States and Russia, and it has little interest in joining a ban agreement; US officials also said that this time it is like a starting point for leadership level talks.
