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 faces serious uncertainty after Washington and Beijing clashed over how the meeting should be conducted. 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.

A central sticking point is nuclear arms control. Trump has indicated he wants the meeting to address the subject, but a Chinese official has stated flatly that China will not discuss nuclear arms control at the proposed meeting, a topic long considered off-limits for Beijing given its reluctance to negotiate limits on its expanding arsenal. China has signaled it may prefer separate bilateral meetings if the two sides cannot agree on an agenda in advance.

The disagreement is severe enough that sources cited by the Wall Street Journal say China's plans for the summit are raising doubts about whether the meeting will happen at all, with the potential gathering, reportedly eyed for as soon as next week, now in question.