China Confirms Talks on a First Xi-Trump-Putin Meeting at APEC Summit in Shenzhen
Beijing confirmed for the first time that it is in talks about a meeting of the leaders of China, the United States and Russia on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19. No date, agenda or format has been set.
Beijing has confirmed for the first time that it is discussing a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting, if it happens, would bring the three leaders together in the same room for the first time.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing this week that China “is in communication with relevant parties regarding a meeting between the three heads of state.” She gave no date, agenda or format, and Beijing has announced no final decision.
The gathering would take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19, according to the Financial Times. China is hosting this year’s leaders summit of the 21-member grouping, which includes the United States and Russia.
What Beijing has confirmed
The confirmation establishes only that discussions are under way, not that the meeting will happen. Neither Washington nor Moscow has confirmed that Putin will attend the APEC summit at all, and the format, the agenda and even whether it will be one joint meeting or a series of bilateral talks on the sidelines remain to be decided.
Trump is expected to travel to Shenzhen to meet Xi for the third time this year, as the two sides try to hold together a fragile trade truce that is set to expire in January. In a sign that tensions persist, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a video call on Friday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng urged Beijing to take “concrete actions to fully implement its past commitments, particularly as they relate to agricultural purchases, rare earths, and other critical minerals,” according to a statement from Greer’s office.
China’s official news agency Xinhua reported Saturday that both sides had in-depth and constructive exchanges in the call, and that China expressed concerns about Washington’s restrictive economic and trade measures against Beijing.
What the leaders want from the meeting
Trump has said he would like to discuss nuclear arms controls while he is in China. Putin is focused on the war in Ukraine, without Kyiv at the table. Analysts quoted by The Associated Press said the three leaders are unlikely to discuss anything of substance because their interests are at odds, and the meeting may amount to little more than a photo opportunity.
“I think it will happen. The question is the format and the content,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center. “China wants the image but not the costs.”
Danny Russel, a former senior State Department official, said “Putin has the most to gain from a leaders’ trilateral, and the Russians are clearly behind the push for a meeting, which would be a diplomatic coup.” Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the meeting may amount to no more than a photo opportunity, adding: “But these photo opportunities have diminishing diplomatic returns. The spectacle may be historic without producing anything particularly consequential.”
China also would not engage in talks on arms controls or discussions about Ukraine or Iran, other than its diplomatic refrain that peace is important and wars should end, Sun said. Beijing’s biggest challenge may be the perception that the summit amounts to three great powers dividing up the world, she said.
Reporting based on coverage by The Associated Press.
