China's Foreign Ministry confirms talks with US and Russia on three-leader summit – Bloomberg

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning has said China is in contact with the US and Russia regarding a possible trilateral meeting of leaders on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Source: Bloomberg

Details: Mao said that the Chinese side is holding relevant discussions with Washington and Moscow.

"China is maintaining communication with relevant parties regarding a potential meeting among Chinese, Russian and US leaders," Mao said at a press briefing in Beijing in response to journalists' questions.

A meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump and Russian ruler Vladimir Putin could take place during the APEC summit, which will be held in Shenzhen on 18-19 November. Trump and Putin have previously publicly expressed interest in such a meeting.

Moscow could be seeking to ease its international isolation following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine by having Putin take part in talks at this level. For Xi, it could be an opportunity to position himself as a mediator between Washington and Moscow.

Background:

• On 19 October, The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin had proposed meeting Trump and Xi in November to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. The US president subsequently confirmed his willingness to meet. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said discussions were taking place.
• On 21 October, Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian leader, said that China was already working on organising the first trilateral meeting of the leaders and would include it in the APEC summit programme if conditions were favourable.
• On 29 October, during a visit to Beijing, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged the Chinese leader to use his influence over Moscow to end the war against Ukraine.
• On 1 November, Steinmeier said following talks with Xi that the Chinese leader had been surprised by rumours of the summit and denied that preparations were underway for a meeting of the three countries on Ukraine. According to the German president, the Chinese leader described the war as a "European conflict" and stressed that European representatives should be at the negotiating table.
• On 3 November, the Financial Times reported that officials from the US, China and Russia had been holding undisclosed talks on a trilateral summit for two weeks, with Washington and Moscow pressuring Beijing to agree to host it. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov subsequently confirmed the preparations, but China's Foreign Ministry had commented only on contact concerning a bilateral meeting between Xi and Putin.

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