The leaders of the world’s three largest nuclear powers are set to gather together for the first time in history next week, the White House has confirmed.

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will hold an unprecedented trilateral meeting on Thursday in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit.

White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales announced that “President Trump will conclude his visit to China with a trilateral meeting between the president of the United States, the president of the People’s Republic of China, and the president of the Russian Federation.”

President Trump has argued he could negotiate a superior replacement that brings China, which has been expanding its nuclear capabilities, into the fold.

The United Nations has urged both Washington and Moscow to urgently establish a new framework, though former senior US officials and analysts have cautioned that securing cooperation from Beijing and Moscow could prove enormously challenging and take years.

Neither Moscow nor Beijing has formally acknowledged the planned three-way summit.

Read more: Three Cult gofers to meet: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to hold historic first-ever meeting next week