Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping might hold trilateral talks in China to discuss ending the war in Iran, according to Euronews.
Trump added that the leaders would discuss several topics, including denuclearisation. The 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping includes the US and Russia, with Beijing hosting this year’s leaders’ summit.
The Kremlin acknowledged the potential one-of-a-kind trilateral meeting on October 21, stating it was being prepared. This followed a report from the Wall Street Journal indicating that Putin wanted the three-way talks to broker a peace deal in Ukraine favorable to Moscow, which launched an invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, noted that the format and content remain questions, stating that China wants the image without the costs.
Danny Russel, a former senior State Department official who served in the administration of former President Barack Obama, stated that Putin has the most to gain from a leaders’ trilateral and that the Russians are clearly behind the push for a meeting that would represent a diplomatic coup.
Russel added that Trump would love the meeting, though he has clearly received warnings from advisers to steer clear of Ukraine during the discussions.
Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, suggested the gathering might amount to no more than a photo opportunity allowing Putin to appear alongside US and Chinese leaders. Singleton stated that such spectacles carry diminishing diplomatic returns and may prove historic without producing particularly consequential outcomes.
Trump is expected to travel to Shenzhen for his third meeting with Xi this year, taking place amid a fragile trade truce scheduled to expire in January.
