China Confirms Possibility of Talks Between Trump, Xi, and Putin for the First Time

China has confirmed for the first time that it is negotiating a possible trilateral meeting between Xi Jinping, Donald Trump, and Vladimir Putin. This was stated on Wednesday, November 4, by the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Mao Ning. According to her, Beijing is maintaining contacts with Moscow and Washington regarding the potential meeting. As noted by AFP, the trilateral talks could take place at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which will be held in Shenzhen on November 18-19. As previously reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Vladimir Putin proposed the idea of such a meeting during a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. According to sources from the publication, the Russian president wants to discuss the terms for ending the war in Ukraine in this format without the participation of representatives from the EU and Kyiv. Trump stated that he is ready to hold such a meeting but would prefer to discuss nuclear disarmament rather than the war in Ukraine. Additionally, in a recent interview with the public-law television channel ARD, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier mentioned that during his official visit to China, he discussed a possible trilateral summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. According to Steinmeier, Xi emphasized that China is not preparing for negotiations on Ukraine involving China, Russia, and the U.S. "He specifically pointed out that this is a European conflict, and Europeans must be present at the negotiating table," stated the President of Germany.