China shows no interest in a trilateral Ukraine summit with the US and Russia, Steinmeier says

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the German public broadcaster ARD that he asked Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Beijing on Friday, 30 October, whether a three-way summit of the leaders of China, Russia and the United States, devoted solely to Ukraine, could take place. According to Steinmeier, Xi's reaction made clear that no such preparation is under way on the Chinese side. Xi stressed that the war is a European conflict and that Europeans should have a seat at the negotiating table. Steinmeier said Xi looked surprised by the suggestion.

The remarks follow reporting on possible scenarios for a meeting of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi on the sidelines of the APEC summit, scheduled for 18 and 19 November in Shenzhen, China. That initiative is linked to a Moscow proposal for talks on nuclear disarmament. Trump has appeared positive about a meeting and has left open discussing other issues, including the war in Ukraine. On 25 October, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told Russian state television Vesti that preparations for the trilateral meeting had already begun.