China said it was “maintaining communication with relevant parties regarding the meeting between the heads of state of China, Russia and the United States.”

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) At the regular press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 4, in response to reports that China, the United States and Russia were arranging a meeting between the heads of state of the three countries during the APEC meeting in Shenzhen, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded: "China is maintaining communication with relevant parties regarding the meeting between the heads of state of China, Russia and the United States."

Moscow's stance looks more certain. According to the German Press Agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskow said at a press conference on Tuesday that "theoretically" all parties are willing to hold this meeting and "all three parties believe that holding talks is a good thing." Putin's foreign policy adviser Ushakov also said: "Our Chinese friends, the hosts of the APEC summit, will handle this matter. To be more precise, they are already preparing for this meeting."

However, neither Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning nor the Kremlin elaborated on the topics that this possible meeting would focus on. Trump said in mid-October that they could discuss issues such as nuclear weapons, denuclearization and trade.

Will the meeting focus on Ukraine?

After concluding his visit to China last week, German President Steinmeier accepted an interview with German television (ARD) and disclosed the details of his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. At that time, German TV reporter Matthias Deiß asked: "Recent news has said that China hopes to or will engage in joint negotiations with the United States and Russia, which may also involve the Ukrainian issue. What can you tell us about this?"

Steinmeier replied: "I read such reports and mentioned it directly to President Xi Jinping. It can be seen from his facial expression that he seemed a little confused, because he then asked where these rumors came from."

German President Steinmeier: Xi Jinping expressed confusion after hearing about the "tripartite summit"

The German president said that Xi Jinping mentioned the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, but believed that there were currently no preparations for any summit on Ukraine involving the United States, Russia and China.

Steinmeier added that Xi Jinping also made it clear: "This is a European conflict, and Europeans must sit at the negotiating table."

What is Putin most eager for this meeting?

Ukrainian President Zelensky warned in October that he was worried that the tripartite summit would become a new version of the "Yalta Conference" (the Yalta Conference in 1945 established the international order and distribution of influence after World War II). “We really don’t want this to turn into ‘Yalta 2.0, 3.0, 4.0’ and lead to a redistribution of influence,” he said.

Zelensky also said: "Russia is more eager for this meeting than anyone else." He warned that Moscow should not gain "another major diplomatic advantage."

Related reading: Trump: Willing to hold a US-China-Russia summit to focus on denuclearization issues

Trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia are about to take place, Zelensky goes to Berlin to meet with Mertz

German media: Xi Jinping will not participate in the new version of "Yalta"

(AFP, dpa)