China Confirms Trump-Putin-Xi Meeting At APEC Summit in Shenzhen

China said it has been communicating with the US and Russia about a possible meeting between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Shenzhen. It would be an unprecedented huddle among the three nuclear powers.

Mao Ning spoke on Wednesday, with the summit still two weeks away. At a regular briefing in Beijing, she said, "China is maintaining communication with relevant parties regarding a potential meeting among Chinese, Russian and US leaders," after being asked whether the three men had any plans to meet in Shenzhen.

Trump has already publicly signaled that he wants to join a sitdown with Xi Jinping at this month’s APEC summit.

Putin has also shown interest in taking part in such a meeting with Xi at the summit.

Beijing’s Open Door

At a regular briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, Mao was asked whether the three leaders had any plans to meet in Shenzhen.

A three-way meeting would be a notable step in Russia’s bid to emerge from the isolation that followed its invasion of Ukraine. It could also give Xi a mediating role between Trump and Putin, according to Bloomberg.

Such a summit has no modern precedent. The closest comparison might be the 1945 Yalta Conference, when Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill met to discuss the reorganization of Europe as Nazi Germany neared defeat in World War II.