US President Donald Trump said on October 19 that he was open to meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss nuclear weapons, Reuters reported. Speaking outside the White House, he said trade could also feature. His remarks signalled interest in talks, rather than an agreed summit.
The Kremlin said the leaders could meet alongside November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the possibility had been raised, but nobody had put forward specific proposals or agreements on a meeting or its agenda, according to Reuters.
Ukraine objected to discussions about its future without its participation. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said a Ukraine-US-Russia meeting could advance peace, whereas a Russia-China-US format would encourage Putin to continue the war, Reuters reported. Peskov said a final settlement would require participation from Kyiv.
China’s position presents a separate obstacle to nuclear negotiations. At an October 16 briefing, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China’s arsenal was not comparable in scale to those of Russia and the United States. She called demands for trilateral disarmament talks unfair and unrealistic at this stage, and said Washington bore a special responsibility to reduce nuclear weapons.
In an October 19 statement, Arms Control Association executive director Daryl Kimball supported meaningful restraints through bilateral or multilateral talks. He also said Ukraine must participate in negotiations to end Russia’s war. His assessment was that a meeting on the margins of the APEC summit could, at best, begin sustained formal negotiations; progress would require preparation and balanced, verifiable proposals.
Comments