Peskov: Work is already under way to organise a Trump–Putin–Xi meeting at the APEC summit

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on November 3 that work is already under way to organise a meeting of US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

The APEC leaders' summit will be held in the Chinese city of Shenzhen on November 18-19. The Russian side had said earlier that Vladimir Putin would attend the summit.

The idea of a trilateral meeting first came up in September. On September 9, asked whether Putin and Trump had discussed the possibility of a trilateral meeting with Xi Jinping during their phone call on September 8, Peskov answered: "Undoubtedly." He added: "This potential possibility has been mentioned before, and there will be such an opportunity."

On October 28, Peskov said a trilateral meeting of Putin, Trump and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit was still possible. He said "there is a potential readiness on the part of all three countries to hold it", but noted that no final agreement or date for the meeting had yet been set and that "everything simply needs to be finalised".

APEC was founded in 1989 and brings together 21 economies of the Asia-Pacific region, including the United States, Russia and China. The forum's leaders' summit is held every year in one of the member economies.