On October 19 local time, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he is open to holding a tripartite dialogue between China, Russia, and the United States during the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
"I will do so." Trump told reporters before traveling to Kansas for a mid-term election rally.
He said, “To be honest, Russia has been behaving well on the Ukraine issue and hasn’t done much… We don’t really care about the Ukraine issue too much. What we want to discuss more are weapons and the issue of denuclearization.”
Trump added that, "If we can achieve de-nuclearization, I will do something truly huge for the world."
During this period, Trump also increased his criticism of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, suggesting that someone else should represent Ukraine in negotiations.
On the 19th, Trump answered reporters' questions about US media.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the Kremlin has proposed holding a tripartite dialogue during the upcoming APEC Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) Leaders' Meeting. This information was reported by the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal on the 18th local time.
A former Russian intelligence officer said that Putin mentioned this idea in a phone call with Trump on October 9th. According to the official, that call also led to an agreement: the United States would purchase Russian diesel fuel and provide convenience for its sale in the global market.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov confirmed that all relevant parties are discussing the possible meeting that is to take place.
Peskov told The Wall Street Journal: 'At present, there is no clear consensus regarding the meeting itself and its possible agenda. However, all parties agree that it is theoretically possible to hold such a meeting.'
October 19th, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning presided over a regular press conference.
According to the Beijing Daily, a reporter from Bloomberg asked that, according to reports, Russian President Putin proposed holding a summit between Chinese and American leaders next month to discuss the end of the Ukraine crisis. Does China agree with such a meeting? Can the spokesperson provide more information?
"I currently have no information that can be provided." Mao Ning said.
