China discussing possible meeting between Xi, Putin, Trump, says Beijing

Beijing said Wednesday it was in communication with relevant parties about a possible trilateral summit between Chinese, Russian and US leaders later this month, state media reported.

“China is maintaining communication with relevant parties on a meeting of the heads of state of China, Russia and the United States,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing.

She was responding to a Financial Times report that officials from the three countries were coordinating arrangements for such a meeting on the sidelines of the scheduled Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit in Shenzhen, southeastern China, on Nov. 18-19, according to Beijing-based daily Global Times.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will host leaders and representatives from APEC’s 21 member economies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.

“Work is under way on organizing such a meeting,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the UK-based daily.

“One person familiar with the talks said Washington and Moscow were pressing China to agree to a meeting,” the newspaper reported Tuesday.