Putin and Xi Discussed Possible Three-Way APEC Meeting With Trump, Kremlin Confirms

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the possibility of a trilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the APEC summit, the Kremlin confirmed on September 1, with Russian state broadcaster Vesti first reporting the development and Reuters and Bloomberg subsequently corroborating it.

The APEC summit is scheduled to take place in Shenzhen, China in November 2026, with China serving as the host nation. The potential three-way encounter would be a historically significant moment, bringing together the leaders of the world's three largest nuclear powers at a single table. Russian officials had previously signaled that a bilateral Trump-Putin meeting at APEC could also be on the table, meaning the trilateral format would represent an upgrade on earlier expectations.

The disclosure came shortly after Putin visited Beijing for a two-day summit with Xi in May, a trip that followed Trump's own visit to China days earlier. At that time, Russian officials had begun floating the idea of using the November APEC gathering as a venue for broader diplomatic engagement. No formal agreement on the trilateral meeting has been announced, and the Kremlin's phrasing, relayed through Vesti, indicated the talks remain a possibility rather than a confirmed event.