Kremlin pushes for trilateral talks
Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that discussions are underway to prepare a trilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. This meeting would take place during the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, scheduled for Nov. 18 – 19. Putin welcomed the prospect on Sunday, though he noted the meeting depends "to a large extent" on the Chinese hosts. I find the Kremlin’s push for this meeting highly optimistic because Peskov claims a "common understanding" exists among participants that the meeting would be "appropriate and highly useful." Peskov told reporters that work continues to coordinate the event and added that they hope it will be finalized in the coming days. The three leaders are scheduled to attend the APEC summit in two weeks.
Kyiv and Beijing react to the proposal
Trump told reporters last month that he intends to meet both Putin and Xi to discuss denuclearization and the conflict in Ukraine. He stated, "I would meet in order to end the war, whether somebody is there or not, whatever I can do to end the war." I find the potential for a meeting without Ukraine to be a significant diplomatic hurdle. Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in late October that the meeting must include Ukraine because he does not want a "redistribution of influence" reminiscent of the 1945 Yalta Conference where the U.S., British, and Soviet leaders agreed on aspects of the postwar settlement in Europe. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who met Xi last week, told ARD that the Chinese leader looked "surprised" when asked about potential Ukraine talks. He also rejected the idea that China, Russia, and the U.S. would discuss Ukraine in a trilateral meeting. The Chinese foreign ministry told the Financial Times that it is "in communication with relevant parties regarding the meeting between the Chinese and Russian heads of state," but the ministry did not mention Trump. China has not commented on the possibility of a trilateral meeting between the three leaders.
