U.S. President Donald Trump plans to hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the margins of a two-day Group of 20 summit starting Friday in Osaka, a senior administration official said Monday.
The meeting with Xi is likely to take place on Saturday, the official told reporters, with businesses and markets set to watch whether the two leaders can avoid a further escalation of the U.S.-China trade war.
The official did not give expected dates for Trump's meetings with Abe and Putin or with a number of other leaders in Osaka, saying Trump's schedule in the western Japan city has yet to be fixed.
Trump also plans to meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Referring to the U.S.-China summit, another U.S. administration official said Trump will look to see where Beijing stands on the tit-for-tat tariff war and is "comfortable with any outcome" of the meeting.
"He's comfortable we are in a strong position, tariffs we put in place," the official said. "Purpose of the tariffs were to address theft of American intellectual property, address forced technology transfer, coercing American companies to give up intellectual property."
The meeting comes as the world's two largest economies step up their tariff skirmishes in an escalation of their long-running trade war, a development that has roiled financial markets and impacted global growth.
Trump has now threatened to slap duties of up to 25 percent on an additional $300 billion of Chinese products, a move that -- if enforced -- would see nearly all Chinese imports taxed.
Aside from trade, Trump and Xi are expected to discuss ways to denuclearize North Korea, especially after Xi's trip to North Korea last week for talks with the country's leader Kim Jong Un.
In a separate meeting in Osaka, Trump and Abe are likely to focus on Japan-U.S. trade talks and security issues such as the situations in North Korea and Iran. The Japanese leader met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani earlier this month.
Tokyo and Washington have been looking to reach a bilateral trade deal -- with the United States pushing Japan to increase access to its agricultural market -- after Japan's House of Councillors election slated for July.
Meanwhile, Trump and Putin are expected to focus on regional security issues such as Iran, Ukraine and Syria, as well as arms control issues given the U.S. withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a 1987 pact with Russia, a third administration official said.
In talks with Abe, Putin and other G-20 leaders, Trump will have a chance to speak about "how we can encourage Iran to enter with diplomacy rather than nuclear blackmail," the official said.
After the G-20 summit, Trump will make a two-day visit to South Korea from Saturday for talks with President Moon Jae In, according to the first administration official.
The two leaders are expected to focus on the situation in North Korea and the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
The official declined comment when asked whether Trump would travel to the demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas while he is in the South.
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