Rubio and Wang Yi Discuss Potential US-China-Russia Trilateral Summit

Strategic stability talks between United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday produced an agreement on the importance of leader-level dialogues for promoting peace and denuclearization, the US State Department reported.

Phone Call Preparations

Rubio spoke by telephone with Wang to discuss President Donald Trump’s upcoming trip to the APEC summit in China next week and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Florida next month for the G20 summit, the State Department stated in a post on X. The two officials reiterated the commitment of their leaders to a constructive relationship of strategic stability based on respect, fairness, and reciprocity, according to the State Department.

The conversation included discussion of an eventual trilateral meeting with Russia, the US agency reported. The earlier Chinese account of the telephone call between Rubio and Wang made no reference to talks on denuclearization or a trilateral summit with Russia.

Trilateral Summit Proposals

Xi and Trump have met twice this year, and Rubio told journalists on Tuesday that preparations were underway to organize a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit involving Trump, Xi, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump stated on Sunday that he believed he would meet with Xi and Putin in Shenzhen to discuss ending the war in Iran and nuclear denuclearization. In October, Trump stated he was open to trilateral arms control talks with Xi and Putin focusing on nuclear weapons, though China appeared less inclined toward such discussions.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated last month that its nuclear power is not at all at the same level as that of the United States and Russia, calling it neither fair, reasonable, nor realistic to ask China to participate in so-called trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage. The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin proposed using a trilateral meeting to discuss ending Russia’s long-standing war in Ukraine.

Wang Expresses Willingness to Strengthen China-US Communication and Cooperation

The state news agency Xinhua reported that Wang had a positive and constructive conversation with Rubio, during which Beijing expressed willingness to strengthen communication and cooperation with Washington. Wang said that the current stability in China-US relations did not come easily, describing it as a rational choice made by the two major countries based on their respective and shared interests, according to Xinhua.

The Trump-Xi summits this year have helped stabilize relations, but have done little to reduce wide divergences between the two strategic rivals. In September in Washington, the two sides agreed to a two-month extension of a trade truce that was set to expire in November, but disputes over tariffs, Chinese purchases of US goods, rare earth exports, and technology restrictions remain unresolved.

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on Tuesday that the two sides will launch a new dialogue on artificial intelligence, but cautioned that they should harbor no illusions about their divergences as they seek to manage risks related to this technology while competing for supremacy in the field.