On October 21 local time, U.S. President Special Envoy Weterkov arrived in Russia and met with Russian President Putin in Saint Petersburg. According to Russian TASS news agency, Putin said he intends to discuss with Weterkov the possibility of a meeting between U.S. President Trump and Chinese leaders.
After the meeting, Russian President's aide Ushakov told media: "Today, of course, we also mentioned a issue that is of great concern to the entire world, namely the possibility that leaders from Russia, China, and the United States may meet during the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, in November."
The US Wall Street Journal reported on the 18th, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the Kremlin had proposed holding a tripartite dialogue among China, Russia, and the United States during the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. A former Russian intelligence official said that Putin mentioned this idea in a phone call with Trump on the 9th.
Regarding this, Trump stated on the 19th that he is open to holding a tripartite dialogue between China, the United States, and Russia during the upcoming APEC leaders' informal meeting.
"I will do so," Trump said, "frankly speaking, Russia has always performed well on the Ukraine issue and hasn't done too much... we don't care much about the Ukraine issue, what we really want to discuss is arms and nuclear disarmament."
October 20th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning presided over a regular press conference.
A reporter from Japan's Kyodo News asked that, according to reports, U.S. President Trump expressed a positive attitude towards holding tripartite talks with China and Russia. Would the Chinese side accept this proposal?
Regarding this, Mao Ning stated, "I currently do not have any information I can provide on your question."
