US President Donald Trump says he is ready to sit down with the leaders of China and Russia for rare three-way talks on arms control as soon as next month, floating the prospect of a high-stakes diplomatic summit that would be without precedent.
“We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearisation,” Mr Trump told reporters outside the White House.
“If President Xi wants to have it, I’d have it. I’m sure we’d talk about other things like trade too,” he added.
The president’s comments come as he tries to ease strained ties with both Beijing and Moscow at a moment when China and Russia have been drawing closer together as non-Western powers.
Such a trilateral meeting could also unsettle allies from Europe to Asia, who fear private understandings that could undercut US transatlantic and Indo-Pacific partnerships.
At the same time, any agreement among the three capitals could reduce global frictions.
Ending Russia’s war in Ukraine would address what many see as the most serious threat to European security in decades, and an arms arrangement would link the three countries that hold the world’s largest nuclear arsenals.
Donald Trump has sought stable relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping
In recent days, Mr Trump has taken steps to improve relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, unveiling a deal involving diesel fuel and signing an order on Friday that waives key sanctions on Moscow.
He has also pursued steadier ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has cultivated a close relationship with Mr Putin.
Despite that outreach, Mr Trump has yet to fulfil a campaign pledge to bring the war in Ukraine to a swift close.
For weeks, the White House has been weighing a possible leaders’ meeting centred on denuclearisation on the sidelines of the 18 – 19 November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mr Putin later suggested using such a gathering to pursue an end to the four-year-old Ukraine conflict in a way that would advantage Moscow, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Volodymyr Zelensky criticised Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Russia
The idea was raised during an 9 October phone call between Mr Trump and Mr Putin, which produced the agreement on Russian diesel.
Yesterday, the Kremlin said the potential meeting had been discussed.
Although the three leaders have met each other separately, they have never held formal talks together.
Mr Trump’s diesel deal with Mr Putin, along with the executive order waiving sanctions on Moscow, has drawn criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has warned the moves would embolden Mr Putin and extend the war.
Asked about the possibility of the meeting yesterday, Mr Trump said: “I would do it, not so much for Ukraine because Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine.”
He also said that “Zelensky is not helping matters much” and that “it’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine”.
Netanyahu basks in Trump election endorsement
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday leaned into Mr Trump’s endorsement ahead of Israel’s closely contested elections, releasing a phone call in which the US president forecast a win for Mr Netanyahu and suggested they could again strike Iran together.
One day after Mr Trump publicly backed Mr Netanyahu for the 27 October vote, the Israeli leader posted a video of their call in which the two right-wing leaders praise each other at length.
בשיחה עם ידידי הנשיא טראמפ לאחר שהודיע על תמיכתו בי בבחירות. יחד אנחנו הולכים להסיר את האיום האיראני לתמיד! צאו להצביע מחל! https://t.co/GuPEAPn0Tc
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 19, 2026
“I think you’re going to have a tremendous victory, actually,” Mr Trump can be heard saying on speakerphone.
“You’re the man I want by my side, Bibi,” Mr Trump said, referring to Mr Netanyahu by his nickname.
Mr Netanyahu – while reminding the famously loose-lipped president that they were on an open line – praised Mr Trump for joining Israel in attacking Iran in February.
“Donald, we have a job to finish,” Mr Netanyahu said. “We’ll finish it together. We’ll finish it, and no one else will do it.”
He did not provide details, but again labelled Iran’s clerical state — still in power nearly eight months after the joint attack — as “the greatest danger”.
Mr Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, had long waited for a US president willing to attack Iran. But Mr Trump abruptly changed direction in April, striking a ceasefire with Tehran that has since frayed.
Polls showed Mr Trump’s approval rating in Israel dropped sharply after that shift.
An Axios report today that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Mr Netanyahu in Israel the previous day has fuelled further speculation that US-Israeli attacks on Iran could resume.
David Makovsky, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said it was uncertain whether Mr Trump’s endorsement would have a “huge impact” on Israeli voters.
“He’s a polarising figure. You either love him or hate him,” Mr Makovsky said of Mr Netanyahu. “How many undecideds are there? Not that many.”
Mr Trump proceeded with the endorsement despite tensions involving senior US officials. Vice President JD Vance has offered sharp criticism of Israel over the Iran war, arguing it had no friends other than the United States and must align with US policy.
Mr Makovsky said Mr Trump’s step could suggest he received an agreement from Mr Netanyahu in exchange for the endorsement, though it was not clear what that might be.
The Israel Hayom newspaper — in a report denied by the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee — has said the Trump administration has been pressing Mr Netanyahu to form a government that excludes his far-right allies, who have championed settler extremists in the West Bank and urged the expulsion of all of Gaza’s Palestinians.
