Kremlin claims China is "already preparing" trilateral summit with US and Russia

Khrystyna Bondarieva , Iryna Balachuk - 21 October, 17:37

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Photo: Kremlin website

Yury Ushakov, an aide to the Russian leader, has stated following Vladimir Putin's meeting with US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff that China has already begun preparing a meeting between the leaders of Russia, the US and China, and "if circumstances are favourable", will include it in the programme of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen.

Source: European Pravda, citing Russian news agency Interfax

Quote from Ushakov: "Our Chinese friends, who are hosting the APEC summit, will deal or rather are already dealing with its [the trilateral meeting – ed.] preparation. And if circumstances are favourable, they, our Chinese friends, will of course include this meeting in the programme of events in Shenzhen."

Details: Ushakov said that the possibility of holding a Russia-US-China summit in Shenzhen had been discussed at Putin's meeting with Witkoff, adding that none of the three capitals rejects this idea.

Notably, after the meeting with Witkoff on 21 October, Putin met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in St Petersburg. The Russian leader stated that there would be an opportunity to hold a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in China.

Background:

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has proposed a meeting with US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
On 19 October, Trump said he is ready to meet Putin and Xi to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, even without Zelenskyy taking part.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the US, China and Russia can hold trilateral meetings among themselves, but when it comes to the issue of Ukraine, Ukraine must be at the negotiating table.
He also added that he would like to understand what would be discussed at the possible meeting between Trump, Xi and Putin in order to "avoid any more surprises".

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