Trump, Xi and Putin to Hold First Three-Way Meeting at China's APEC Summit

President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold the first three-way meeting of their countries' leaders in Shenzhen, China, on Thursday, the White House said Friday. Officials cast it as an opening conversation on cutting nuclear arsenals, with no agreement expected.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said the meeting will close Trump's China visit, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. She said Trump “will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world.” A senior U.S. official called the session an entry point and “the first conversation.” Pentagon estimates put China's arsenal at more than 600 warheads, against more than 5,000 each for the U.S. and Russia. Iran will come up, officials said, but Ukraine will not. The senior official said: “China is not really a part of that track, so it doesn't seem appropriate to have the Ukraine discussion there.” Officials also said Trump and Putin will not hold a separate one-on-one meeting.

CBS News and NBC News, on the left, both lead with the White House announcement and Wales's nuclear quote. CBS's headline calls it first trilateral of its kind and stresses what is on and off the agenda: Iran in, Ukraine out, with Ukraine handled on a separate track. NBC calls the meeting unprecedented and adds the warhead gap, plus the official's push for China to join adult conversations. Newsmax, on the right, was available only as a short excerpt. It stresses the unprecedented gathering, Thursday timing and Shenzhen location, and says nothing there about Iran, Ukraine or arsenals. The sides do not contradict one another. ZeroHedge echoes the left's “Nukes In, Ukraine Out” framing.