Kremlin Says Work Is Underway on Trump-Xi-Putin Meeting in Shenzhen. Beijing Says It Is 'in Communication'

Since the Wall Street Journal reported last month that Putin pitched a three-way summit with Trump and Xi Jinping, the idea has moved from rumor to an open diplomatic project. This week, two of the three governments said so on the record.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday, Nov. 3: "Work is underway to coordinate such a meeting." He added that there is "a common understanding among the participants" that it would be "appropriate and highly useful," and that Moscow hopes it will be finalized "in the coming days."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning followed on Wednesday, Nov. 4. "China is in communication with relevant parties regarding a meeting between the three heads of state," she told reporters in Beijing.

That is a step beyond a shrug, but it is not a confirmation.

Where the planning stands

The meeting is pencilled in for the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on Nov. 18-19. The three leaders have met one-on-one but have never held formal talks together.

Peskov said Beijing, as host, is "the main organizing force." Putin said the same in early October: it depends on China.

The White House has not announced anything. It referred questions to Trump's own remarks on Oct. 19, when he said: "If President Xi wants to have it, I'd have it." A senior U.S. official told the press earlier that Trump had not signed on but could be open to it. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged discussions but said nothing was certain.

China's earlier public wording was more guarded. The Financial Times reported that an earlier Foreign Ministry statement referred only to a meeting of the Chinese and Russian heads of state. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Xi appeared confused when asked about a trilateral and wanted to know where the rumors came from. Steinmeier said Xi expected the three to meet at APEC on other topics, not Ukraine.

What Trump says it is for

Trump says the agenda is nuclear weapons, not Ukraine. "We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearization," he told reporters, adding that "we have more nuclear weapons than anybody. Russia is second, China is third but catching up." He said Russia is "fine on Ukraine, they haven't been doing much."

That goal is not new. In a 2018 post, Trump said he was certain he, Xi and Putin would one day talk about halting an "uncontrollable Arms Race."

The numbers frame the problem. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute counts about 12,187 nuclear warheads worldwide as of January 2026. Russia and the U.S. hold 83% of the global stockpile. China has more than 600 warheads, about 6%, and SIPRI says Beijing is expanding its arsenal faster than any other country.

China has long resisted limits on that buildup and keeps its program opaque. Any deal that does not bind Beijing would constrain the two countries that already disclose the most.

Kyiv and the critics

Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, has blasted the idea of talks without Ukraine. He warned it would embolden Putin and said the Russian leader has no business at any negotiating table while his attacks continue. Zelensky has said he would prefer a format with Russia, Ukraine and the U.S.

Anders Corr, writing in a commentary for The Epoch Times, listed 10 pitfalls. Among them: a Shenzhen venue lets Beijing pose as peacemaker rather than as Putin's main enabler, and a Ukraine-free summit gives Moscow an edge to demand more territory. He also argued it could embolden Xi on Taiwan and the South China Sea.

On the Russian side, analyst Alexander Bratersky told Al Jazeera that Moscow sees a prestige win. He said Pyotr Tolstoy, who chairs the Duma's foreign affairs committee, has called the format a path toward a new Yalta. "A meeting by itself will be a success," Bratersky said. "Putin will be able to sell it at home."

Bratersky also argued Trump would negotiate from a weaker position after this week's midterms, in which Democrats won both chambers of Congress. Democrats could start sending money to Kyiv, he said.

Inderjeet Parmar, a professor at City St George's, University of London, told Al Jazeera that Trump wants "a personal, high-drama encounter" that lets him claim he is dealing with the other two great powers on his own terms.

The sanctions backdrop

The summit talk comes as Trump has softened on Moscow. After Ukraine struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Zelensky did not want peace and that he was holding off on sanctions to keep Russia at the table. "I WANT THIS WAR END!" he wrote.

Last year Trump called Putin "crazy" over strikes on Ukrainian cities and sanctioned Russia's two biggest oil companies.

What to watch

If the Shenzhen meeting is confirmed, it will fall within two weeks. Beijing controls the schedule and has not said Trump is on its list. Bratersky said results, or the lack of them, should be clear within about a month, and a follow-up could come at the G20 summit in Miami in December. "If nothing is produced before Christmas," he said, "it will be just a photo op."