Trump says he expects to meet Putin and Xi at China summit

US President Donald Trump has said he expects to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit in Shenzhen, China.

“Well, I'm going to be going to China, and one of the meetings I think will be with President Putin and President Xi, and that'll be interesting,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.

He said the discussions could cover several issues, including nuclear disarmament and efforts to end the war on Iran.

“We'll talk a lot of things, including denuclearisation, but we'll be talking a lot of things. We're trying to end the war in Iran,” Trump said.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is scheduled to take place in Shenzhen on November 18-19.

The Kremlin said on October 21 that preparations were under way for a first-of-its-kind trilateral meeting involving the three leaders.

The announcement followed a Wall Street Journal report that Putin wanted the talks to help broker a peace deal in Ukraine on terms favourable to Moscow, which launched its full-scale war against the country in 2022.

Trump's willingness to meet Putin comes amid criticism in the United States over his engagement with leaders of countries including Russia and China.

His efforts to hold talks with the Russian president have also drawn attention to his approach to ending Moscow's international isolation following its war in Ukraine.

TRT World / AFP — TRT World / AFP

Photo: AP