A tripartite meeting between Trump, Putin and Xi in China is in danger. WSJ.
The US and China cannot agree on the format of the trilateral meeting with Russia in Shenzhen, the Wall Street Journal reports. Beijing insists on a precise meeting with the reading of a prepared statement and minimal space for discussion. However, Washington is pushing for a more open format and an active exchange of views on the sidelines of the APEC summit in China on November 18-19.
Disagreements between China and the US have raised doubts about whether the meeting will even take place, although Trump, Putin and Xi have expressed their willingness to consider the idea.
The publication writes that Trump has made it clear that he wants to raise the issue of nuclear arms control, while Beijing has long been reluctant to engage in any negotiations on this issue. For China, participating in trilateral talks on arms control risks strengthening Beijing's position as a nuclear power, which is unacceptable to Xi.
The WSJ writes that Putin's proposal for a tripartite meeting is apparently intended to take advantage of the warming relationship between the White House and the Kremlin, and with China's help, to achieve progress toward ending the war in Ukraine on Russia's terms and without Zelensky's participation.