Political analyst Dmitry Zhuravlev believes a trilateral summit involving Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will not take place. He argues that deep disagreements among the three countries have made such a meeting unlikely.

According to Zhuravlev, a summit bringing together Russia, the United States and China could have far-reaching consequences for international affairs. He believes the three powers possess enough influence to jointly shape major developments in the global economy and politics. Bilateral negotiations, he argued, cannot achieve the same objectives because they focus on narrower issues.

Speaking to Lenta.ru, the political analyst suggested that the proposed summit had been abandoned because Moscow, Washington and Beijing could not overcome their differences. He explained that a meeting of all three leaders would require them to announce at least some common ground, despite their disagreements. In his assessment, they appear to have failed to reach such a position.

Zhuravlev also argued that European countries would welcome the cancellation of the trilateral meeting. In his view, agreements reached directly between Russia, the United States and China could significantly weaken Europe’s international standing and deprive it of an independent political role.

Earlier, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said following a conversation with Xi Jinping that Beijing was not currently planning to organize trilateral talks with Russia and the United States on resolving the conflict in Ukraine.