The White House has announced that President Donald Trump will conclude his visit to China next week with a trilateral meeting between the president of the United States, the president of the People's Republic of China, and the president of the Russian Federation.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told reporters the historic meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, where Trump will arrive late on Wednesday for the two-day gathering of 21 member states.

NBC News describes the session as an unprecedented gathering of the heads of the world's three biggest nuclear powers. Moscow and Beijing have yet to comment officially, though Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this month there were "signals confirming readiness" for such talks.

No previous meeting of the leaders of the United States, Russia and China in a trilateral format is recorded, and the announcement drew immediate comparisons to the 1945 Yalta Conference, where the leaders of the US, Britain and the Soviet Union reshaped the postwar order.

NBC News notes that the three leaders have met in pairs many times: Putin and Xi have met more than 40 times since 2013, Trump and Putin seven times, and Trump and Xi eight times, including Xi's September state visit to Washington. But a joint sitting of all three has never occurred.

The timing is also striking, coming after the US-Russia New START nuclear treaty expired in February, leaving the world's two largest nuclear arsenals without major guardrails for the first time in more than half a century.

Wales said Trump will discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons, whose proliferation he believes is very dangerous, and it is understood that Iran may also be discussed, but not Ukraine.

According to NBC News, a senior US official described the session as an "entry point" and "the first conversation," saying Washington thinks it is time for China to have "adult conversations" about nuclear arms.

The Pentagon estimates China's arsenal at more than 600 warheads, far below the more than 5,000 held by the US and Russia, and Beijing has shown little interest in a nuclear pact.

After New START expired, Trump rejected Russia's call to extend the deal and instead called for a new agreement that includes China.

The announcement rests on the White House's own briefing, with Wales's comments reported by the BBC and NBC News. A senior US official told news agencies AP and Reuters that no agreement is expected to follow the talks.

Chinese state media has reported only that Xi will hold "bilateral" talks at the APEC summit and has not reported on the trilateral meeting, while Moscow and Beijing have yet to comment on the three-way session.

Kremlin spokesman Peskov dismissed Yalta comparisons, saying any agreements reached in Shenzhen cannot be enforced on others and that global order should rest on mutual benefit and mutual respect.

NBC News also reports no bilateral Trump-Putin meeting is scheduled and Elon Musk will be the only business leader in the delegation.

The meeting carries significant geopolitical weight. NBC News reports that for Xi, hosting the gathering offers a chance to flex China's growing clout and prestige, while for the Kremlin it is a coveted opportunity to posture as a superpower on par with Washington and Beijing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed concern the trilateral could serve as a platform to discuss a Ukraine deal behind Kyiv's back, though a senior US official said Ukraine talks are a separate "track" that China is not part of.

Analyst Hoo Tiang Boon of Nanyang Technological University told NBC News the meeting could undercut China's push to portray itself as a defender of free trade at APEC and run counter to Beijing's support of multilateralism.

Trump's trip opens with an ASEAN summit in the Philippines on Tuesday before he arrives in Shenzhen late on Wednesday. He will hold bilateral talks with Xi on Thursday, their fourth meeting since he returned to office in 2025, with the trilateral meeting to conclude the visit.

A senior US official told NBC News there are no plans for Trump to engage with North Korea during the trip, and officials do not expect the Nvidia espionage investigation to figure in conversations with Beijing.

Adding to the backdrop, China's commerce ministry said the first US-China trade council meeting on Friday discussed tariff cuts and agricultural trade, including the proposed US$60 billion reciprocal tariff-cut package, without saying whether agreements were reached, days before the leaders meet.