China has officially confirmed for the first time that it is holding consultations on a possible trilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The talks could take place during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China in November. At the same time, no final agreement on holding the meeting has been reached yet.
Bloomberg reported this on November 4, citing a statement by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry representative, Beijing is maintaining contacts with the relevant parties regarding a possible meeting of the leaders of China, Russia, and the United States.
Mao Ning made this statement during a regular briefing in Beijing in response to journalists' questions about the prospects of organizing a trilateral summit.
A potential venue for the talks could be the APEC summit, which will take place on November 18-19 in Shenzhen, China.
Earlier, Trump and Putin publicly expressed interest in a meeting involving Xi Jinping. However, the Chinese side long refrained from confirming such an initiative.
In particular, on October 22, Mao Ning stated that she had no information about possible trilateral talks. Now Beijing has for the first time openly acknowledged the existence of relevant diplomatic contacts.
According to the Financial Times, representatives of the United States, China, and Russia are discussing the possibility of organizing a top-level meeting, but its format and agenda remain undefined.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the publication that preparatory work is ongoing. According to one of FT's interlocutors, Washington and Moscow are interested in holding the meeting and are trying to persuade the Chinese side to agree to the corresponding format.
At the same time, it is still unclear whether representatives of the three countries are holding joint consultations or whether Beijing is separately discussing the possibility of a summit with Washington and Moscow.
One potential topic for the talks could be nuclear arms control. Trump previously expressed interest in engaging China in relevant agreements, but Beijing is skeptical of such a format due to the significant difference between Chinese and American nuclear arsenals.
A separate issue is the possible discussion of Russia's war against Ukraine. Moscow previously proposed using a Trump-Putin-Xi meeting for negotiations on ending it. However, there is currently no confirmation that the Ukrainian issue is included in the agenda of a potential summit.
As reported by the Financial Times, during a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Xi Jinping indicated that trilateral negotiations on Ukraine were not planned. The Chinese leader also emphasized the need for European states to participate in discussions related to the war.
For Russia, holding a joint meeting with the leaders of the United States and China would have important diplomatic significance amid Moscow's international isolation following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
At the same time, even if a summit is held, its participants will not necessarily reach concrete agreements. Substantial differences remain among the three countries regarding international security, nuclear weapons, and the war in Ukraine.
For now, China has only confirmed the fact of consultations. There is no official decision to hold a trilateral summit, an approved agenda, or announced outcomes of preparations.
Sources: Bloomberg, Financial Times
