Symbolic imageUS and China discuss trilateral summit with Russia after Rubio-Wang call
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke by phone on Wednesday. Washington says a possible Trump-Xi-Putin meeting at the APEC summit in Shenzhen was part of the talks.
According to the State Department, Rubio and Wang agreed that leader-level talks matter for peace and denuclearization, including at any trilateral meeting with Russia. Xinhua called the call "positive and constructive". Rubio had said on Tuesday that work was underway to arrange such a meeting on the sidelines of APEC, which runs from 17 to 19 November. Trump travels to China next week, and Xi is due in Florida for next month's G20 summit.
Kremlin confirms preparations
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Putin and Trump will continue discussing a Ukraine settlement at a planned bilateral meeting in Shenzhen. He hopes the first meeting of the three leaders in such a format will have a "salutary effect" on the global situation. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Putin wants to use a trilateral meeting to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
Beijing wary on arms control
China's Foreign Ministry said last month it would be "neither fair, reasonable nor realistic" to ask China to join trilateral nuclear disarmament talks at this stage. Trump had said in October he was open to such talks.
Other opinions
China's readout of the call did not mention denuclearization or a trilateral summit. The state-run Global Times quotes Chinese analysts saying the two sides' priorities differ, with Taiwan central for Beijing, and that Washington wants to showcase diplomatic gains.