BERLIN — China has shown no interest in holding a three-way summit with Russia and the United States to discuss Ukraine, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an interview with German public broadcaster ARD broadcast on Sunday, November 1, according to dpa, which was given the interview text ahead of broadcast. Steinmeier said he had raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Beijing on Friday, October 30, and has since returned to Berlin.
"From his perspective, there is absolutely no preparation under way for a Ukraine summit involving the United States, Russia and China," Steinmeier said. "He explicitly pointed out that this is a European conflict in which Europeans would also have to be at the negotiating table." When Steinmeier raised the possibility of a Ukraine summit, he added, "one could see the look of surprise on his face."
A new development after October's summit talk
Steinmeier's account is a new development, not a restatement: in October, reports of a possible three-way summit had gathered pace ahead of the APEC leaders' meeting. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed such a meeting, to discuss issues surrounding nuclear disarmament, and US President Donald Trump expressed openness to the idea, saying he would also be willing to discuss other issues, "such as Ukraine," dpa reported. China's official statement after the October 30 Steinmeier-Xi talks made no mention of a trilateral summit on Ukraine. Steinmeier said the three presidents were indeed likely to meet at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, but that Xi's response indicated Ukraine would not be on the agenda there.
What Steinmeier did not claim
Steinmeier did not say China opposes a Ukraine settlement, and he did not announce any new negotiating format. His account, given to ARD, is one side's description of a closed-door conversation: Beijing has not publicly confirmed Steinmeier's characterisation of Xi's remarks, and no Chinese statement on a trilateral Ukraine summit had been reported alongside the interview. What the account does settle, on Steinmeier's telling, is narrower and still significant — the format Moscow proposed and Washington entertained is not, as of this weekend, being prepared in Beijing, and China is insisting any Ukraine table include Europeans.
Watch for any Chinese foreign-ministry response to Steinmeier's account, whether Ukraine appears in any APEC sideline meeting on November 18-19 in Shenzhen, and whether European governments now press publicly for a seat in any Ukraine format.