U.S., China, Russia leaders to meet next week, says Trump; Beijing says ‘in communication with parties’

United States President Donald Trump has said he will likely meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a rare trilateral leaders’ meeting on the sidelines of the APEC gathering in Shenzhen next week.

Beijing said on Monday (November 9, 2026) it was “in communication with relevant parties” over the meeting, not ruling out the possibility as leaders gather for the APEC summit in southern China on November 18 and 19.

Mr. Trump on Sunday ( November 8, 2026) indicated to reporters that a deal on the Russia-Ukraine war, the Iran issue and nuclear arms control would be on the agenda. “One of the meetings will be with President Putin and President Xi, and that’ll be interesting. We’re talking ​a lot of things, including denuclearisation, but we’ll ​be talking a lot of things. We’re trying to end the ‌war ⁠in Iran,” Mr. Trump was quoted as saying.

Asked about his remarks, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Monday (November 9, 2026) did not rule out the prospect of a meeting, saying that China was in communication with relevant parties regarding the meeting between the Chinese, Russian and U.S. presidents.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi will meet bilaterally next week for the third time this year, following the U.S. President’s visit to Beijing in May and the Chinese President travelling to Washington in September. They will meet once again at the end of the year at the G20 in Miami, marking an unusual four meetings in a year.

Both countries have sought to inject more stability in relations and pursue what they call “a constructive relationship of strategic stability”, even as they have exchanged blows on issues including trade tariffs, restrictions on semiconductors, rare earths and Taiwan.

Chinese analysts have sought to play down the significance of a possible trilateral summit, just as they also played down Mr. Trump’s remarks in Beijing earlier this year of a “G2”. Russia was “most enthusiastic” among the three, Su Liuqiang, a scholar at the Centre for American Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said in an interview with state media, adding that an informal exchange was likelier than a more structured, formal trilateral summit.

“On the one hand, there is substantial political resistance in the U.S. Anti-Russia sentiment remains strong in both the U.S. and among its European allies, with opposition to negotiating with Moscow while bypassing Ukraine and Europe. On the other hand, the three countries have differing priorities. Russia’s core concern is negotiations on a ceasefire in Ukraine, the U.S. is interested in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and non-proliferation, China supports peace talks but must also balance its relations with the U.S., Russia, Europe and Ukraine. In this context, a low-profile trilateral meeting is the more realistic option,” he said, adding that practical outcomes could emphasise stabilising global energy supplies.

While China preferred “multilateralism” over ideas such as the G2 or a U.S.-China-Russia triumvirate, Mr. Su said a meeting would still be significant in suggesting that while structural competition between big powers would still continue to define global geopolitics, there was increasing interest in “managing that competition and preventing it from escalating or spinning out of control.”