India, Nov. 15 -- WASHINGTON/BEIJING - When US President Donald Trump proposed, in March 2026, that his first major objective after stabilising the wars he had inherited or launched would be a meeting with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin to cut military budgets in half, the idea was treated by most analysts as aspirational at best and fantastical at worst.

"When we straighten it all out, then I want to - one of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia. And I want to say, let's cut our military budget in half."

Eight months later, it is happening.

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will hold the first three-way meeting among the leaders of the United States, Russia and China at a ...