The US rejects China's demand for a highly fenced summit between Trump, Xi Jinping and Putin. The Wall Street Journal. According to sources familiar with the preparations for the meeting, Beijing wants any tripartite summit between the leaders of the United States, China and Russia to be conducted according to a strict script, in which each reads a prepared statement and opportunities for discussion are kept to a minimum. However, the Trump administration is pushing for a freer format that would allow the leaders of the three countries to exchange views more actively instead of prepared monologues. Disagreements between Beijing and Washington over the rules and agenda cast doubt on whether the meeting will take place, despite the fact that the United States, China and Russia initially expressed willingness to host it. President Trump has made it clear that he wants to raise the issue of nuclear weapons control. China has a nuclear arsenal far smaller than that of the United States and Russia, though it is growing rapidly, and Beijing has long avoided engaging in any negotiations on the issue. It seems that Putin's proposal for a tripartite meeting is intended to take advantage of Trump's softening of attitudes towards the Kremlin, and with Chinese assistance, to move towards ending the war in Ukraine under favorable conditions for Russia - without the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Chinese official said that Beijing is ready to host the tripartite meeting, but only with advance preparations that will ensure an agreed agenda and a predetermined outcome. China is ready to discuss Ukraine and other important issues in this format, the official said. Without such advance preparation, Beijing would prefer to hold separate bilateral meetings instead, he added.