Asia-Pacific
Steinmeier: Xi Jinping uninterested in a three-way summit on Ukraine, wants Europeans at the negotiating table
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told ARD that Xi Jinping shows no interest in a summit with the US and Russia on Ukraine and believes Europeans should take part in the negotiations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping shows no interest in a three-way summit with the US and Russia on the war in Ukraine, and believes Europeans should take part in the negotiations. This is what German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an interview with Germany’s public broadcaster ARD, describing his meeting with Mr Xi in Beijing on Friday, October 30.
“From his point of view, there is absolutely no preparation for a summit on Ukraine with the participation of the US, Russia and China,” Mr Steinmeier said. “He stated explicitly that this is a European conflict, in which Europeans should also be sitting at the negotiating table,” he added. When Mr Steinmeier raised the idea of a summit on Ukraine, “surprise was written on his face,” he noted.
Putin’s proposal and the APEC summit
The remarks come as a possible meeting of Mr Xi with Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump is being discussed on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, to be held in Shenzhen, China, on November 18 and 19. Mr Putin has proposed a three-way meeting on nuclear disarmament, and Mr Trump has shown willingness to discuss other issues too, “such as Ukraine”. On October 25 Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told Russian state television channel Vesti that preparations had begun and that Moscow, Beijing and Washington had agreed in principle.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on November 2 that a Putin–Xi meeting within APEC is being prepared, but said there are no details of a possible three-way meeting with Mr Trump. The Wall Street Journal wrote, citing its sources, that Mr Putin wants to use the meeting to secure a peace deal favourable to Moscow.
Kyiv wants a seat at the talks
Kyiv has rejected the idea of a peace summit in China without Ukraine, and President Volodymyr Zelensky repeats that decisions about Ukraine cannot be made without its participation. Mr Ushakov also described a possible meeting of Russian, US and Ukrainian delegations in November as exploratory. Although it declares itself neutral, China is Russia’s key economic backstop during the war and the main source of dual-use goods for Russia’s defence industry.
