The leaders of the United States, China and Russia could sit down together for the first time later this month. Beijing confirmed this week that it is talking with the other capitals about a three-way meeting between President Donald Trump, President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China. Nothing has been agreed yet, and it is worth being clear about that up front: as of today, this is a possibility under discussion, not a summit on the calendar.
What each capital has actually said
China spoke first. On Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing: “China is in communication with relevant parties regarding a meeting between the three heads of state.” It was the first time Beijing had publicly acknowledged the discussions, which Bloomberg and the Financial Times had reported a day earlier.
Moscow sounds the most eager of the three. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that “work is under way to coordinate such a meeting,” adding: “We hope that it will be finalised in the coming days.” A senior Kremlin aide, Yury Ushakov, has said Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff discussed the idea during talks in St. Petersburg on October 21.
Washington is the quietest. The White House has not confirmed the meeting and did not comment when the Financial Times approached it about the proposal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confirmed only that the possibility of a trilateral meeting was discussed, and that no final decision has been made. Beijing has not decided either: the Financial Times reported that China had yet to decide whether to proceed.
Why Shenzhen puts all three in one city
The timing is not an accident. China hosts this year’s APEC leaders summit in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19, and Xi will welcome leaders from the forum’s 21 member economies, which include both the United States and Russia. All three presidents are expected to attend. Trump is expected to meet Xi for the third time this year, with a fragile trade truce between their countries set to expire in January, and a separate meeting between Xi and Putin is also expected during the summit. In short, the three men will be in the same city on the same days either way. The open question is whether anyone puts them in the same room.
A first if it happens, but maybe more photo than summit
If it happens, the meeting would make history simply by taking place. Trump, Xi and Putin have met one on one, but they have never held formal talks together, so a trilateral session would be a first for the leaders of the world’s three largest nuclear powers. Trump has said he is open to three-way talks focused on nuclear weapons. “If President Xi wants to have it, I’d have it,” he told reporters last month.
There are reasons to keep expectations low. China’s Foreign Ministry said last month that it would be “neither fair, reasonable nor realistic to ask China to join the so-called trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage.” Analysts who follow the three capitals say their interests are often at odds, and that a short meeting arranged at a busy summit would most likely produce a striking photograph rather than agreements. For Moscow, even the photograph carries value: Bloomberg reported that a seat at the same table as Washington and Beijing would help Russia ease the isolation it has faced since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
What happens next depends mostly on Beijing, which hosts the summit and has not yet decided. Peskov said he hopes the arrangements are settled within days, so an answer could come well before leaders land in Shenzhen. Follow the story in our News coverage as the talks develop.
Sources: Bloomberg and Financial Times reporting, November 2026; statements by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov; Al Jazeera; TRT World; Business Standard.