FOCUS – Russia open to a Putin-Trump-Xi meeting at the APEC summit in China

– Russia is open to the possibility of holding a trilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the APEC summit in China, while there is still no concrete agreement on organising it, “Reuters” reported.

Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said the possibility of a meeting between the three leaders has been discussed.

According to him, if Trump takes part in the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping could take steps to organise a joint meeting.

The summit of the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will be held on November 18 and 19 in Shenzhen, in southern China. China is the host country of APEC for 2026.

The possibility of a Putin-Trump-Xi meeting was first discussed in early September.

At that time, Ushakov said Putin and Xi had discussed the issue during their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek.

He said that, if everything went according to plan, a meeting of the three leaders could be organised during APEC.

On September 29, Ushakov returned to this possibility, saying that if Trump were present at the summit, it would be possible for Xi to take steps for a trilateral meeting. He emphasised that there was still no agreement on such a meeting.

Meanwhile, Trump’s participation in APEC has become more concrete.

The White House said the U.S. and China will support each other as host countries of the G20 and APEC summits, and that Trump and Xi intend to take part in the respective summits.

A separate meeting between Putin and Xi Jinping is also expected to be held on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

Putin has expressed optimism about the meeting with his Chinese counterpart and has said it could further strengthen relations between Russia and China.

However, a Putin-Trump-Xi meeting has not yet been confirmed. The format, agenda or issues to be discussed if the meeting takes place have not been determined either.

Such a meeting would be significant diplomatically, as it would bring to the same table the leaders of Russia, the U.S. and China, three of the main powers taking part in APEC.