Moscow, Russia – The Kremlin said Tuesday that discussions are underway to organize a trilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in China later this month.
“We hope it’ll be finalized in the coming days. Of course, the main organizing force here is our Chinese friends as the host party,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during his daily briefing.
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Putin and Trump are both expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled to take place in Shenzhen, China, on November 18–19.
According to a source familiar with the discussions cited by the Financial Times, Washington and Moscow are both pressing Beijing to agree to the proposed meeting, where the three leaders could discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine.
However, China has not publicly confirmed any plans for a separate trilateral meeting involving Trump. Its Foreign Ministry said only that Beijing was “in communication with relevant parties regarding the meeting between the Chinese and Russian heads of state,” without referring to a possible meeting with the US president.
The prospect of a trilateral summit has also raised questions about Europe’s role in discussions concerning the war in Ukraine.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who met Chinese President Xi Jinping last Friday, reportedly said that Xi appeared surprised when asked about a possible trilateral meeting involving Putin and Trump. Steinmeier also stressed that Europe must be involved in any discussions concerning the future of Ukraine and European security.
A source familiar with the Kremlin’s thinking told the Financial Times that Moscow does not expect substantive negotiations on Ukraine during the proposed meeting in China. Russia reportedly believes Beijing would prefer to take credit for diplomatic progress once a potential peace settlement is within reach.
Meanwhile, Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for high-level discussions with Chinese military officials. During the visit, he praised the strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing, describing it as being at an “unprecedentedly high” level.
China has yet to comment directly on the possibility of a three-way meeting between Xi, Putin and Trump.
With the APEC summit approaching, the diplomatic discussions highlight growing international interest in potential high-level engagement between Washington, Moscow and Beijing, particularly amid continuing efforts to find a diplomatic resolution to the war in Ukraine.
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