US and China Clash Over Format of Proposed Trump-Xi-Putin Trilateral Summit

A proposed trilateral summit between Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin is in jeopardy after Washington and Beijing clashed over how the meeting should be structured. China is insisting the summit follow a tightly scripted format with predetermined outcomes and prepared statements, while the Trump administration is pushing back in favor of open discussions.

The central sticking point is nuclear arms control. Trump has indicated he wants to put the subject on the agenda, but a Chinese official has said Beijing will not discuss nuclear arms control at the proposed meeting. China's growing nuclear arsenal has long made the topic a taboo in its diplomacy. Sources say China has signaled it may prefer separate bilateral meetings if the parties cannot agree on an agenda in advance, raising serious doubts about whether the trilateral gathering will take place at all.