The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not provided any information regarding a possible meeting between the leaders of China, the US and Russia to bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
However, Beijing has stated that it supports peace talks.
“China’s position on the Ukrainian crisis (as Beijing refers to Russia’s war against Ukraine – ed.) remains unchanged. We will continue to actively facilitate peace talks and a political settlement,” said Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a briefing.
On 20 October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that his country must be involved in any potential meeting between the leaders of China, Russia and the United States concerning the war in Ukraine. The Chinese Foreign Ministry was asked whether Beijing would be prepared to take part in a meeting on the war involving Russia and the US if Ukraine were not included.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has already stated that the leaders of Russia, China and the US have confirmed their readiness to hold a trilateral meeting at the summit in Shenzhen. This was stated to ‘Vesti’ by Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian President.
Commenting on the potential meeting between the leaders of the PRC, the US and China, Zelenskyy stated that if issues concerning Ukraine – “regarding our future” – were to be discussed at this meeting, “this would only be acceptable if we were at the negotiating table. “That is perfectly understandable.”
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Vladimir Putin proposed to Donald Trump that a trilateral summit be held with the participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss ending the war. According to journalists, the initiative was raised during a telephone conversation between Putin and Trump on 9 October. At that time, the parties also agreed on supplies of Russian diesel fuel.
The meeting could take place on 18–19 November on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China. The President of Ukraine is not expected to attend the event.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the WSJ that the possibility of a meeting is being discussed, but no agreements have yet been reached regarding its organisation or the agenda.
Subsequently, US President Donald Trump stated that he was prepared to take part in a trilateral meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, according to him, this meeting might focus not so much on Ukraine as on the issue of nuclear weapons.