China, U.S. discuss raising denuclearization at potential Russia trilateral

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Top Chinese and US diplomats raised the possibility that Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump could discuss denuclearization during a potential trilateral leaders’ meeting with Russia next week, according to the US State Department.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi spoke by phone ahead of the 18 to 19 November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen, both countries said.

Presidents Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin could also hold a trilateral meeting on APEC’s sidelines, after US, Chinese and Russian officials each said their countries were in discussions about such talks.

During their call, Rubio and Wang “agreed on the importance of meaningful leader-level conversations to advance goals such as peace and denuclearization, including at any potential trilateral leaders meeting with Russia,” the US State Department said Wednesday on social media.

The call came at China’s request, it added.

Trump has said he would like to discuss denuclearization with Xi and Putin, although Beijing has not confirmed nuclear arms control would feature on a trilateral agenda.

Washington earlier said it wanted China to be part of a nuclear arms control deal after a bilateral treaty with Moscow expired in February.

At the time Beijing declined to join disarmament negotiations, saying its nuclear capabilities were of a different scale to those of Russia and the US.

Wang told Rubio during their call that China was “willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with the US,” according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.