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President Donald Trump will meet an array of world leaders on the sidelines of this week’s G20 summit in Japan, including China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, a US official said on Monday.
Also on the list are Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Trump will also sit down with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman for talks that are especially timely given the soaring tensions between the United States and Iran.
The meeting with the Chinese president -- which is highly anticipated as the two sides try to reach a deal on trade -- is expected to take place on Saturday, the second day of the summit, in Osaka. After the Group of 20 summit, the Republican president will head to Seoul.
When asked if Trump was planning a visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border of North and South Korea, the official neither confirmed nor denied. The official did however say there were “no plans” for Trump to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his trip to Asia. Trump and Kim have so far met twice -- in Singapore in June 2018, and in Hanoi in February 2019.
Trade negotiators hold talks
PTI Reports from Beijing
Top Chinese and US trade negotiators have held telephone talks ahead of a crunch meeting between presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump at the G20 summit this week, Chinese state media said on Tuesday.
Vice Premier Liu He -- Xi’s pointman in the trade war -- spoke with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday and they “exchanged opinions on economic and trade issues,” according to the official Xinhua news agency.
The call took place “at the request of the US side” and the officials agreed to continue to maintain contact, Xinhua said.
Trump’s highly anticipated meeting with Xi will take place on Saturday, the second day of the Group of 20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, according to a US official.
The two leaders agreed to meet after negotiations broke down last month and both sides exchanged steep increases in tariffs on $260 billion in two-way trade.
Trump has since moved to blacklist China’s top telecommunications company, Huawei. Beijing has responded by threatening to create its own list of “unreliable” companies and individuals.
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