The United States, China and Russia cannot agree on the format of the leaders' meeting. Beijing just wants to read prepared statements.
Disputes have arisen between the United States and China over the format and agenda of a tripartite meeting with the participation of Russia, which is planned on the sidelines of the APEC summit on November 18-19 in China, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
Vladimir Putin proposed the idea of a tripartite meeting of the leaders of the United States, China and Russia to Donald Trump during his last phone call on October 9. The parties agree in advance to carry it out.
However, Beijing wants the summit to follow a strictly defined script: each must read a prepared statement, and opportunities for discussion must be kept to a minimum. According to the Chinese representative, China is ready to discuss Ukraine and other important issues in this format. If there are no preliminary preparations, Beijing will prefer to hold separate bilateral meetings.
The Trump administration is pushing for a freer format that would allow the three leaders to exchange views more actively rather than limiting themselves to prepared monologues. In addition, Trump made it clear that he wants to raise the issue of nuclear weapons control, but Beijing has long been "reluctant to engage in any negotiations on this issue."