WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday voiced hope for the possibility of a trilateral meeting on "denuclearization" with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, possibly next month in China.
"We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. Russia is second. China is third, but catching up. China was way behind, and now they're catching up. It'll take them probably five years," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We would schedule a meeting based on the denuclearization, and that's a very positive thing for the world."
Asked whether he had agreed to a three-way meeting with the Chinese and Russian leaders, Trump said he had not, but he "would do it if they want."
Trump also said the meeting could take place in China, but it would not be "so much for Ukraine because Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine."
The Chinese president will chair this year's summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shenzhen in mid-November. Both the United States and Russia are members of the 21-member Pacific Rim forum, which also includes Australia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
It is not the first time that Trump has called for the inclusion of China in any future negotiations on nuclear disarmament.
China has consistently rejected the idea of trilateral disarmament talks, saying its nuclear arsenal is far smaller than those of the United States and Russia, which together possess about 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons.
