The key facts

  • China's Foreign Ministry confirmed it is communicating about a possible meeting of Xi, Putin and Trump
  • The possible venue and time are the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen on November 18–19
  • The Kremlin told Financial Times that work on organizing the meeting is underway

Beijing confirms contacts regarding a trilateral meeting

China is holding talks with the interested parties about a possible meeting of the heads of state of China, Russia and the United States, the Anadolu agency reported on November 4, citing state media .Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told journalists in Beijing: “China maintains communication with the relevant parties regarding a meeting of the heads of state of China, Russia and the United States.”

Context: the APEC summit in Shenzhen

The Chinese Foreign Ministry's statement came in response to a Financial Times report, according to which officials from the three countries are coordinating the organization of such a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, in southeastern China, scheduled for November 18–19; the Beijing newspaper Global Times writes about this. Chinese leader Xi Jinping will host the leaders and representatives of all 21 APEC economies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.

The Kremlin's position and the status of the arrangements

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Financial Times that “work on organizing such a meeting is underway.” According to the newspaper, citing one of the sources familiar with the course of the negotiations, Washington and Moscow are urging China to agree to the meeting. Thus, so far only the talks about the meeting have been officially confirmed: neither the date nor the very fact that the trilateral summit will take place has been announced by the parties.