Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov officially confirmed that a trilateral meeting of the leaders of the USA, Russia, and China will take place on November 19 in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. According to him, an agreement has been reached to hold a summit bringing together President Donald Trump, President Xi Jinping, and President Vladimir Putin. The announcement was made on November 14 and was reported by Russian agencies, later picked up by both Ukrainian and international media.

Format and Venue: APEC Summit Sidelines

The meeting will take place within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the summit of which is being hosted by Shenzhen this year. As Peskov noted, "an agreement has been reached to hold a trilateral meeting on the 19th between President Putin, Chairman Xi, and President Trump." He provided no additional details on the program or negotiation protocols. On the American side, the date and format were confirmed by Deputy White House Press Secretary Olivia Wells, noting that the leaders' meeting will take place on November 19 as part of the APEC forum.

Nuclear Disarmament on the Agenda

According to the White House, the key topic Trump intends to raise at the meeting is the reduction of nuclear arsenals. Olivia Wells emphasized that the US president views the proliferation of nuclear weapons as a serious threat and will discuss the issue of global reduction at the meeting in China. Thus, nuclear security and arms control become the primary substantive element of the summit, which Washington is focusing on.

War in Ukraine Not on the Agenda

Both sides — the Kremlin and the White House — indicate that the topic of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict will not be discussed at the trilateral summit. The American administration explained that Washington has recently conducted a series of negotiations with Moscow, while Beijing is not part of this negotiation track, so raising the Ukraine issue in Shenzhen "does not seem appropriate." According to reports, China also shows no interest in discussing this topic during this meeting.

No Bilateral Trump-Putin Meeting or Starlink

A separate bilateral meeting between Trump and Putin is not planned. The issue of providing Ukraine with access to the Starlink satellite communication service, provided by Elon Musk's SpaceX, will also not be on the agenda. Although Musk himself will travel to China along with the American president, he will not participate in the negotiations between Trump, Putin, and Xi Jinping.

Context: Risk of Disruption Over Format

Earlier, Western media reported that the meeting of the three leaders could have been canceled due to disagreements over the format of the talks. Against this backdrop, the confirmation of the date and venue by the Kremlin and the White House means that organizational disagreements have been resolved. It was noted separately that the Russian side wanted to discuss ending the war in Ukraine at the meeting, but as follows from the statements of both parties, this topic did not make it into the final Shenzhen agenda.