US President Donald Trump has stated his willingness to take part in a trilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to Trump, the talks would focus less on Ukraine and more on issues relating to nuclear weapons.
“We could talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearisation. If President Xi wants to hold such a meeting, I am agreeable,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.
He also expressed confidence that the participants could address other topics, such as trade.
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Vladimir Putin proposed to Donald Trump that a trilateral summit be held with Xi Jinping to discuss ending the war. Reporters say Putin put forward this initiative during a telephone conversation with Trump on 9 October. At that time, the two sides 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 be among the participants.
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. A source within the US administration told the newspaper that Trump has not yet agreed to attend the summit. According to the publication’s sources, the Chinese side had no objection to the talks provided the US President took part.
On 19 October, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that it “had no information to provide” regarding a possible meeting between the leaders of China, the US and Russia.