PUTIN ON THE RITZ

Kremlin Reveals Plans for Three-Way Lovefest With Trump

The Russian president is pushing for a trilateral talk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is pushing for a sit-down with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump later this month.

The Kremlin has ramped up the push for the meeting this week, with Putin’s spokesman touting the possibility.

“There is a common understanding among the participants in such a potential meeting that it would be appropriate and highly useful. Work is underway to coordinate such a meeting,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

The comments come as preparations for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit are underway in China, which is hosting the event mid-month.

The APEC summit will take place on November 18 and 19 in Shenzhen, China, and all three leaders are scheduled to attend.

The Chinese and Russian embassies did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but officials from all three countries have reportedly confirmed it.

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Putin, 74, has been publicly asking for a three-way meeting since at least the start of October.

“Regarding a possible trilateral meeting, I know the media is talking about it. We’re all for it,” Putin said at the beginning of October.

He flagged APEC as a possible opportunity, but said China as host would have the final say.

“This will largely depend on China as the host of the event. But, I repeat, meetings are always useful—to exchange opinions, to clarify positions.

“The most important thing is to identify the issues that could form the basis of this potential trilateral summit. Furthermore, to determine the topics of this negotiation process,” Putin said.

Trump, 80, has also indicated he would be open to the possibility of a get-together.

“If President Xi wants to have it, I’d have it. I’m sure we’ll talk about other things like trade, too. But yeah, I would do that,” Trump told reporters on October 19.

He said he expected that the three nuclear superpowers would discuss denuclearization.

“We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearization... we have more nuclear weapons than anybody. Russia is second, China is third but catching up. China was way behind, and now they’re catching up.

He dismissed the idea that the talks would be about Russia’s war on Ukraine, describing Russia as “fine on Ukraine, they haven’t been doing much.”

Asked if the trilateral meeting was being discussed, the White House referred the Daily Beast to Trump’s remarks on October 19.

Xi, 73, also reportedly expressed surprise at the prospect of Ukraine being a topic of the meeting when he was last asked about it, according to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

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But he reportedly told Steinmeier he expected the three leaders to meet at APEC on other topics.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he would prefer it if Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. could sit down together before any meeting of Russia, China and the U.S.

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