Donald Trump plans to meet Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in China to discuss ending Iran war

Donald Trump announced he intends to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during an Asia-Pacific summit in Shenzhen, China, scheduled for November 18-19. Trump stated, "I'm going to be going to China, and one of the meetings I think will be with President Putin and President Xi... We'll talk a lot of things, including denuclearisation, but we'll be talking about a lot of things.

We're trying to end the war in Iran." However, given the differing interests of the three leaders, any substantive discussion is unlikely.

The trilateral meeting has been acknowledged by the Kremlin, which began preparations on October 21. While Putin may want a peace deal in Ukraine favorable to Moscow, China is reportedly content with the image but not the costs. Former State Department official Danny Russel stated that the meeting would be a diplomatic coup for Putin, while Craig Singleton of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies noted that it may amount to a mere photo opportunity.