U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed a potential meeting between their leaders and Kremlin head Vladimir Putin, confirming preparations for a trilateral summit. Bloomberg reports, UNN writes.
Details
The foreign ministers of the two countries spoke on Wednesday, November 11, ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's trip to Shenzhen for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next week and Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Florida for the G20 summit next month.
Rubio and Wang "agreed on the importance of substantive leader-level discussions to advance such goals as peace and denuclearization, including at any potential trilateral leaders' meeting with Russia," the U.S. State Department said in a statement. It did not specify the time or location of such a meeting.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the conversation "positive and constructive" in its statement, without mentioning any potential trilateral meeting.
When Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was asked about a possible meeting of the three leaders, she said at a briefing in Beijing on Thursday, November 12, that her country "is maintaining communication with the relevant parties regarding a meeting of the three presidents."
Both Trump and Putin have publicly expressed interest in taking part in a meeting with Xi at the APEC summit. On Sunday, Trump said that he believed he would meet with Xi and Putin to discuss "many things," including denuclearization and ending the war with Iran.
Last week, Beijing said it was in contact with Washington and Moscow regarding such a meeting, which would be unprecedented for nuclear powers.
"A trilateral summit would give Putin a prominent platform as he seeks to emerge from international isolation following the invasion of Ukraine. Holding talks would also give Xi an opportunity to present China as a mediator between Washington and Moscow," the publication said.
For Trump, a historic summit with Xi and Putin, the publication notes, would provide a timely distraction from the devastating defeat of his Republican Party in the U.S. midterm elections, as foreign policy is one of the few areas in which the president still has broad powers.
Ukraine's position
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had previously commented on the possibility of such a summit. "A trilateral meeting of the leaders of Ukraine, the United States, and Russia could help end the war more quickly. A trilateral meeting of the leaders of Russia, China, and the United States would produce the opposite result: it would encourage Putin to continue this war. Inviting Putin to such a meeting would only fuel his megalomania and give him weight he does not deserve," Sybiha said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also responded to reports about Kremlin head Vladimir Putin's proposal to hold a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where the issue of Russia's war against Ukraine is expected to be discussed.
"I would like to understand this in order to avoid further surprises. The issue is not only whether they will meet with us or without us: unfortunately, Putin's gradual emergence from isolation has already begun. This will not be the first step. However, if Ukraine is on the agenda, we would like Ukraine to be consulted. I cannot comment on the rest: I do not know what they will discuss," Zelenskyy said in response to a question about the fact that "Putin is proposing a meeting with Trump and Xi without Ukraine," and whether he is worried "that they will decide your future without you."