Trump open to China-Russia-U.S. meeting on nuclear disarmament as Kremlin floats APEC timing

US President Donald Trump has said he is willing to take part in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss nuclear disarmament. He said he would join if Xi accepted the invitation, signalling openness to a rare three-way discussion involving the world's three largest nuclear powers. The comments come amid renewed diplomatic tension over the war in Ukraine and questions over future talks with Moscow.

Trump also said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should seek someone else to negotiate with Russia over ending the war. That remark came as Washington and Kyiv have been at odds, with the dispute worsening since Trump said at the weekend that he would revoke sanctions against Russia. The timing has added to scrutiny of the US position on both the war and wider arms control diplomacy.

Earlier on Monday, the Kremlin said Putin, Trump and Xi could meet during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit planned for November in China. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the comment after being asked about a report that Putin had proposed a meeting to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine. Peskov said the United States was still acting as a mediator in efforts to end the conflict and that Moscow valued those efforts.

The prospect of a trilateral meeting matters because it would bring together leaders whose countries shape both the nuclear balance and the diplomatic path around Ukraine. Any discussion of disarmament would carry significance beyond the immediate war, given the strategic weight of US, Russian and Chinese arsenals. At the same time, the idea of linking nuclear talks with Ukraine diplomacy underlines how closely the two issues are now being discussed.

The Ukrainian foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, criticised the possibility of a meeting involving only the three presidents. He said a meeting with representatives of Ukraine, the United States and Russia could help end the war faster, while a gathering of the Russian, US and Chinese leaders would have the opposite effect and encourage Putin to continue the conflict. His comments reflect Kyiv's concern that it could be left out of talks about its own war.

Peskov also said any final peace agreement would depend on the participation of Ukrainian representatives willing to take responsibility for an understanding. That leaves open both the format and the substance of any future negotiations, including whether the APEC summit becomes a venue for direct contact. For now, it remains unclear whether Xi would accept such a meeting, whether it would happen, and whether nuclear disarmament or Ukraine would dominate the agenda.

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