Three-Way Shenzhen Talks Target Global Nuclear Arms Reductions
📣 ARTICLE HEADLINE
United States President Donald Trump will push for global nuclear arms reductions during an unprecedented trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Shenzhen on Thursday. Defence analysts and international diplomatic delegations are tracking the initiative as Washington attempts to bring Beijing into direct arms control discussions alongside the world’s two largest nuclear powers.
White House officials expect no formal agreement during the first-of-its-kind summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. White House spokesperson Olivia Wales confirmed the agenda will focus on curbing global nuclear proliferation, alongside discussions regarding the US-Israeli war against Iran, though administration officials noted Trump is not expected to raise Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trump departs Monday on a four-day diplomatic trip to Asia that includes a stop in the Philippines before arriving in China.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute data shows Russia maintains the largest inventory of stored nuclear warheads, followed by the United States and China. Beijing has repeatedly resisted three-way arms control negotiations, with its Foreign Ministry stating in October that joining trilateral disarmament negotiations is neither fair, reasonable, nor realistic given the scale of US and Russian stockpiles.
The planned talks follow the expiration of the US-Russia New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty earlier this year, which left the primary American and Russian strategic arsenals without bilateral treaty limits.
