The United States is trying to bring China into high-level discussions on nuclear disarmament and an end to the war in Iran, Washington said. It added that Beijing has accepted that engagement at the leader level matters before an expected meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke by phone on Wednesday about the need for top-level talks to advance peace and denuclearisation. The discussion also covered the possibility of a three-way summit that would include Russia, the State Department said. The contact comes as Trump prepares to travel to China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, where he is expected to see Xi.
Trump pushes for a three-way summit with Xi and Putin
Trump has signalled that he wants to sit down with Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin to address the war in Iran and nuclear weapons. Rubio told reporters on Tuesday that work was under way to arrange a meeting of the three leaders during the APEC gathering. Trump said on Sunday that he expected to meet both men in Shenzhen.
Trump had also said in October that he was open to arms control discussions among China, Russia and the United States, with nuclear weapons as the main focus. A trilateral summit would gather the leaders of three of the world’s major nuclear powers at a time when Washington wants to move forward on arms control and wider geopolitical conflicts.
According to the State Department, Rubio and Wang recalled the leaders’ shared commitment to a constructive relationship built on strategic stability, respect, fairness and reciprocity. The department said in a post on X that both sides agreed meaningful talks between national leaders were important for advancing peace and denuclearisation, possibly through a meeting that includes Russia.
Beijing’s account omits nuclear disarmament and trilateral talks
China’s official account of the conversation did not mention denuclearisation or a possible trilateral summit. The gap highlights how differently Washington and Beijing have described the diplomatic exchange. Beijing had already shown reluctance to join nuclear disarmament negotiations alongside the United States and Russia.
China’s Foreign Ministry said last month that its nuclear capabilities were not on the same level as those of Washington and Moscow. It argued that asking Beijing to take part in trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage would be neither fair, reasonable nor realistic.
China’s state news agency Xinhua described the call as positive and constructive, and said Beijing had expressed a willingness to strengthen communication and cooperation with Washington. Wang was quoted by Xinhua as saying that the current stability in China-US relations had not come easily. He called it a rational choice made by the two major countries in pursuit of their individual and shared interests.
Trade, technology and Ukraine keep US-China tensions alive
The call is part of wider efforts by Washington and Beijing to steady relations, even though they still disagree over trade, technology and strategic competition. Trump and Xi have met twice this year. Those meetings eased tensions but did not resolve the broader differences between the two countries.
At a meeting in Washington in September, the two sides agreed to extend a trade truce by two months, postponing its expiry from November. Disputes over tariffs, Chinese purchases of US goods, rare earth exports and technology restrictions, however, remain unsettled. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that the two countries would advance a new dialogue on artificial intelligence. He cautioned against underestimating their differences, as both compete for technological leadership and try to manage the risks linked to the technology.
Separate reporting said Putin has proposed using a possible trilateral meeting with Trump and Xi to discuss ending Russia’s prolonged war in Ukraine. If such a meeting took place, it would bring together the war in Iran, the conflict in Ukraine and nuclear arms control in one set of discussions among the three leaders.
