U.S., China, and Russia can’t agree on format for leaders’ meeting, WSJ reports. Beijing wants scripted statements and no nuclear arms talks.

The United States, China, and Russia are struggling to agree on the format and agenda for a three-way meeting set to take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China, according to The Wall Street Journal. The proposed meeting, which would include U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, has faced numerous disagreements in terms of its structure and topics to be discussed.

Russian President Putin initially proposed the meeting during a phone call with Trump on October 9, and all sides have tentatively agreed to hold it. However, Beijing has insisted on a tightly scripted summit, where each leader would read a prepared statement with minimal room for discussion. A Chinese official stated that China is willing to discuss Ukraine and other major issues in this format. If the summit is not scripted in advance, Beijing would prefer to hold separate bilateral meetings.

In contrast, the Trump administration has been pushing for a looser format that allows for more free exchange of views among the three leaders. Trump has also expressed a desire to raise the issue of nuclear arms control during the meeting, but China has been "reluctant to engage in any talks on the matter," according to the Journal.

For China, such talks on nuclear disarmament could potentially cement its status as the weaker party in the relationship, a scenario that Chinese leader Xi Jinping finds unacceptable. Beijing has outright refused to participate in such a meeting. President Putin's proposal for the three-way meeting aimed to reach an agreement on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine on terms favorable to Moscow. The United States, China, and Russia all possess the world's largest nuclear arsenals.