Will the world not be divided yet?
on new internal reports about the meeting in China.
Trilateral talks ended before they could begin. And no, we're not talking about the UAE meeting. Very soon, the APEC summit will be held in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, where talks are supposed to take place between the Chinese, Russian and American leaders. However, the parties still cannot resolve key issues.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the meeting between Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is running into disagreements over the format of the conversation. In Beijing, apparently, it is proposed to agree in advance on the agenda and the outcome, after which the leaders will take turns reading prepared statements. The US advocates a more open format of discussion.
For the Chinese side, such a format carries risks: an unexpected proposal by Trump or a public conflict could turn a carefully prepared event into an awkward situation. Beijing wants to avoid this at all costs, as the talks could turn into another political show by the US president.
This is far from the only obstacle to tripartite talks - even their main agenda remains unclear. Trump himself names the regulation of nuclear weapons as the main topic of conversation. Beijing has been reluctant to respond so far, and for good reason.
Disagreements do not mean that a trilateral meeting will not happen: the symbolism and prestige of such an event is enormous, especially for China as the host. If they cannot agree on a full agenda, a compromise may well be a brief joint conversation on the sidelines of APEC.
Yes, there will be no major agreements or, as they like to say now, "Yalta 2.0". But there will be photographs and statements that each capital can present as a diplomatic achievement. A limited format will allow the parties to get at least some of what they want without turning the meeting into a public airing of accumulated disagreements.