Putin, Xi discussed trilateral APEC meeting

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping discussed the possibility of a three-way meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November, according to the Kremlin. Yuri Ushakov, a senior Kremlin foreign policy aide, said on September 1 that the idea had come up in talks between the Russian and Chinese leaders. Russian officials presented it as a possibility rather than a settled plan. U.S. and Chinese authorities had not publicly confirmed such a meeting as of September 2. ### Who said the idea was on the table? Yuri Ushakov said on September 1 that Putin, Trump and Xi “may hold” a trilateral meeting at the next APEC summit in November, according to Reuters and other reports. Asked on Russian state television about the prospect, Ushakov said, “This issue was discussed, yes,” linking the idea directly to the latest Putin-Xi contacts. (usnews.com) The Kremlin’s formulation mattered because it stopped short of saying a meeting had been agreed. Russian officials said only that the possibility had been discussed and that all three leaders were expected to attend the summit. ### Where did this come up? Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, was the setting cited in Reuters reporting tied to the latest Putin-Xi engagement, with photographs showing Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit there on September 1. (usnews.com) The Straits Times, citing Ushakov, also reported that the possibility of a trilateral meeting had been discussed during the week’s summit diplomacy. Russian statements did not indicate whether Trump had been approached directly through a formal three-way channel or whether the discussion was limited to Putin and Xi. Public reporting available on September 2 attributed the proposal to the Russian side’s account of the talks. ### Why APEC, and why there? APEC China 2026 is due to culminate in Shenzhen, with the official APEC 2026 site and Chinese government pages saying the Economic Leaders’ Meeting is scheduled for November 18-19. (usnews.com) Shenzhen has been designated the host city for the leaders’ meeting and major ministerial gatherings. APEC provides one of the few multilateral settings where the leaders of the United States, China and Russia could all plausibly be in the same place at the same time. (usnews.com) Ushakov said all three were expected to attend, though attendance lists for major summits can change before the event. ### Did Washington or Beijing confirm it? (apec2026.cn) The United States had not publicly confirmed any trilateral meeting, according to Reuters’ September 1 report. The available reporting also did not show a public confirmation from China that a three-way session with Putin and Trump had been scheduled. That left the proposal, as of September 2, at the level of a Kremlin disclosure about what Putin and Xi had discussed. (usnews.com) Bloomberg and The Straits Times both reported the Russian account on September 1, but neither report amounted to a formal announcement from all three governments. ### What would need to happen next? November 18-19 is the next concrete date in view, when APEC’s leaders’ meeting is scheduled to take place in Shenzhen. (usnews.com) Any trilateral session involving Trump, Xi and Putin would require confirmation through the three governments’ diplomatic and summit schedules before then. For now, the only public on-record statement is Ushakov’s September 1 remark that the issue “was discussed.” Further confirmation would most likely come from the White House, China’s foreign ministry, or official APEC scheduling notices closer to the summit. (straitstimes.com) (usnews.com) (apec2026.cn)