Work underway to organize trilateral talks between Putin, Trump, Xi in China: Kremlin

The Kremlin said Tuesday that work is underway between Moscow, Washington, and Beijing to organize a trilateral meeting of the Russian, Chinese, and US presidents later this month.

"Work is under way on organising such a meeting," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Financial Times in a report.

The report said, citing people familiar with the situation in Washington, Beijing and Moscow, that officials had been holding serious talks about arranging a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Chinese city of Shenzhen on Nov. 18-19.

It cited the Chinese Foreign Ministry as saying that Beijing is in contact with the relevant parties concerning a meeting between President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but made no mention of a potential trilateral meeting involving US President Donald Trump.

The report said it is unclear whether the three sides are talking together or whether Beijing is instead holding bilateral talks with Washington and Moscow.

It also cited people familiar with the situation who cautioned that China had not yet decided whether to proceed with the trilateral meeting.

"One person familiar with the talks said Washington and Moscow were pressing China to agree to a meeting. The Chinese foreign ministry last month said it had 'no information to provide' about a possible trilateral summit," it added.

Last month, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said no party has ruled out a possible meeting between Putin, Trump, and Xi on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

Ushakov told reporters following a meeting between Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Oct. 21 that the topic of the potential meeting, which he said "garnered such intense global interest," was discussed during their negotiations in St. Petersburg.

Meanwhile, Peskov told reporters during a press briefing Monday that Putin's schedule for the APEC summit is still being prepared, noting there is no specific information yet regarding a possible trilateral meeting on the event's sidelines.