China’s Ambassador to Moscow, Zhang Hanhui, told Izvestia that if China were to set up a meeting between the leaders of Russia, China and the United States during the November 18-19 APEC Summit in China, that he believes this would be “very useful.” He explained why it would be so useful if such a trilateral meeting could be organized: “It will be very beneficial for the development and formation of a multipolar world. Because Russia, America, and China are the UN Security Council permanent members; they are world powers.” He emphasized that “the future of this world depends on us.”

Ambassador Zhang added that other countries should look to China and Russia as an example of how to build “relations between neighboring states, between major states,” because their two countries “work together to contribute to the development of the economy, the global economy, and to maintaining peace and stability around the world.”

As for the prospects for the trilateral meeting: Russian news agency TASS raised the possibility of such a meeting at the Sept. 29 Chinese Foreign Ministry briefing, asking if China had any comment on the statement by “the spokesperson of Kremlin” (presumably Dmitry Peskov–ed.) that the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Shenzhen will provide a good opportunity for such a trilateral meeting. Spokesman Guo Jiakun responded only that China is ready to work with all parties for fruitful outcomes during its chairmanship of APEC, and will contribute to the economic growth in the Asia Pacific and beyond, saying he had no information to share at the moment regarding the specific question.

The White House readout on President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington, D.C. reported that Trump “intends” to attend the APEC summit. President Vladimir Putin, for his part, said on Sept. 25 that the APEC meeting is a major, serious event which could be a useful platform, but a final decision has not yet been made as to whether he will attend; that will depend on the situation in Russia.