The US and China cannot agree on the format of a trilateral meeting with Russia in Shenzhen. The Wall Street Journal.
Beijing insists on a strictly regulated meeting with the reading of a prepared statement and minimal room for discussion. Washington insists on a freer format of the meeting and an active exchange of views on the sidelines of APEC in China on November 18-19.
Disagreements between China and the US raise doubts about whether the meeting will even take place, although Trump, Putin and Xi have expressed a willingness to consider the idea.
The publication states that Trump has made it clear that he wants to raise the issue of nuclear weapons control, and Beijing has long been reluctant to enter into any negotiations on this issue. For China, participating in trilateral arms control negotiations risks perpetuating Beijing's nuclear inferiority status, which is unacceptable to Xi.
The WSJ writes that it appears that Putin's proposal for a tripartite meeting is intended to take advantage of the thaw in the White House's relations with the Kremlin, and with the help of China, to move towards ending the war in Ukraine on Russia's terms and without Zelensky's participation.