U.S., China, and Russia can’t agree on format for leaders’ meeting, WSJ reports. Beijing wants scripted statements and no nuclear arms talks.

The United States and China disagree over the format and agenda for a three-way meeting with Russia planned on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China on November 18–19, sources told The Wall Street Journal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the meeting of the U.S., Chinese, and Russian leaders to President Donald Trump during their most recent phone call on October 9, the Journal reported. All sides have tentatively agreed to hold it.

But Beijing wants a tightly scripted summit: Each leader would read a prepared statement, with as little room as possible for discussion. A Chinese official said China is willing to discuss Ukraine and other major issues in that format. If the summit isn’t scripted in advance, Beijing would prefer to hold separate bilateral meetings.

The Trump administration is pushing for a looser format that would let the three leaders exchange views more freely rather than limiting themselves to prepared monologues, the Journal reported.

Trump has also made clear that he wants to raise the issue of nuclear arms control, but Beijing has long been “reluctant to engage in any talks on the matter,” the Journal reported. For China, such talks risk cementing its status as the weaker party — an outcome Chinese leader Xi Jinping finds unacceptable. A Chinese official said Beijing would not agree to participate in such a meeting.

In proposing the three-way meeting, Putin hoped, among other things, to reach an agreement to end the war between Russia and Ukraine on terms favorable to Moscow, the Journal previously reported.

Trump said he was open to participating in a three-way meeting, but “not so much for Ukraine” as to discuss nuclear weapons and nuclear disarmament. The United States, China, and Russia have the world’s largest nuclear arsenals.