Trump To Push For Nuclear Arms Cuts At Meeting With Putin, Xi In China

US President Donald Trump wants nuclear arms reduction on the agenda when he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in China next week, the White House said on Friday.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said Trump wants to address the risks posed by the spread of nuclear weapons and push for reductions in their numbers.

"He will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons in the world, whose proliferation President Trump believes is very dangerous," Reuters reported. She said the three leaders would meet on Thursday in China.

China Has Avoided Nuclear Talks

China has consistently avoided direct talks with the US on its nuclear weapons programme, arguing that Washington should first negotiate with Moscow because both countries possess far larger nuclear stockpiles.

Russia has the world's biggest nuclear arsenal, followed by the US and China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Meanwhile, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which governed nuclear arms limits between Washington and Moscow, expired this year.

It remains uncertain whether Putin or Xi will agree to discuss cuts in nuclear weapons during their meeting with Trump. The Chinese and Russian embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent by email.

Trump also plans to discuss the US-Israeli war against Iran during the meeting. However, the senior administration official said the US president is not expected to bring up Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

Beijing Wants Discussions To Focus On Trade

China is pushing back against Donald Trump's attempt to make nuclear arms reduction a key topic at his planned meeting with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

Beijing wants the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen to focus on trade and business. It has also refused to discuss nuclear weapons with the US and Russia, despite the two countries having the world's largest nuclear arsenals.

The three leaders are expected to meet during the summit. Trump will leave for a four-day Asia trip on Monday, which will also take him to the Philippines.

A senior US administration official said the meeting was unlikely to produce an agreement on nuclear weapons. "We do not expect to get to any kind of agreement," the official said, according to Reuters.

Trump is not scheduled to hold separate talks with Putin or discuss Ukraine's access to Starlink, the satellite internet service run by Elon Musk's SpaceX, during the China visit. Musk will accompany the US president on the trip but will not be present when Trump meets Xi and Putin, a senior administration official said.

Explaining why Ukraine is unlikely to feature in the discussions, the official said Washington had been holding separate talks with Moscow and China was not involved in those negotiations.

"We've had many meetings recently with the Russians, but China is not really a part of that track, so it doesn't seem appropriate to have the Ukraine discussion there," the official said.