The Kremlin said preparations are under way for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Shenzhen this month, with Moscow's spokesman saying Beijing has taken the leading role in organising it. TASS quoted Dmitry Peskov as saying the work was already in hand; Kommersant reported that he expected it could be finalised in the near term.

The Moscow Times reported that Moscow is hoping plans for the trilateral will be settled in the coming days. The summit is scheduled for November 18-19 in the southern Chinese city, according to Hindustan Times, which cited a report that officials were weighing a three-way meeting.

Separately, Sputnik reported that Chinese Premier Li Qiang told a forum in Wuzhen that China opposes the creation of a 'digital iron curtain'. The Russian state outlet placed the remark in the context of cross-border data and technology rules, a subject that has become a point of friction between Beijing and Washington.

The flurry of Russian commentary is notable for how it frames the venue: not as a bilateral US-China set piece but as a three-way event hosted by Beijing. TASS quoted Peskov saying Beijing had the leading role in preparing the meeting, a characterisation that casts China as the convenor of a summit involving both Washington and Moscow. Kommersant's account, citing Peskov, said work on coordinating the meeting was already under way and could be finalised soon.

The Moscow Times, an independent English-language Russian paper, reported that Moscow hopes the plans will be finalised in the coming days. Hindustan Times, citing a report, said Trump, Xi and Putin were likely to meet during the APEC summit and that officials were considering a trilateral format. The paper put the summit dates at November 18-19 in Shenzhen.

None of the cited outlets reported a confirmed agenda, and the Kremlin's language — work under way, hopes of finalisation — stops short of announcing a meeting. The White House and Chinese officials were not quoted in the wire items on the arrangement.

The host city is already preparing. Nikkei Asia reported that APEC host China will keep cars off the streets and close schools during the Shenzhen summit, a security posture consistent with a gathering that could draw three heads of state. NHK reported that the APEC ministerial meeting was held online on the night of November 3, an unusual format ahead of the leaders' summit — the Japanese public broadcaster noted that ministerial meetings are normally held in person before the leaders gather.

The Li Qiang remark carried by Sputnik adds a policy line from the Chinese premier at the World Internet Conference venue in Wuzhen. Sputnik, a Russian state outlet, reported that Li said China opposes erecting a digital iron curtain. The wire item did not elaborate on which countries or measures the premier was addressing.

For the capital, the significance is the diplomatic calendar. A Putin-Trump-Xi meeting in Shenzhen would put Beijing at the centre of three-way diplomacy at a moment when Washington and Beijing are managing technology restrictions and tariff headwinds, and when Moscow is seeking to show it is not isolated. The Russian readouts stress Beijing's convening role; the Asian business press stresses the logistics. Neither confirms the meeting will happen.

The wire also carried other China-related items that touch the leadership and policy beat — a Guardian report on Chinese diplomacy with Gulf leaders ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting at APEC, and a Korea Times report on a Chinese think tank's findings that the US-China AI investment gap is narrower than headline figures suggest. Those are separate threads; the Kremlin's trilateral preparations are the item this desk can source directly to the Russian wires.