US, Chinese and Russian officials are reportedly in talks regarding a possible trilateral summit between President Trump, Chinese President Xi and Russian President Putin later in November, at the Apec summit in Shenzhen, FT reports citing sources

• It remains unclear on whether the talks would happen trilaterally, or bilateral talks between China-US and China-Russia.
• Source suggests that the US is pressuring China to agree to a meeting.

Summit diplomacy at this level has historically been choreographed well in advance, with sherpa-level channels agreeing the deliverables before leaders sit down; the substantive signal in episodes of this kind has tended to come from the working-level preparatory meetings and the wording of any joint communiqué rather than the handshake itself. The format question is itself a tell: a trilateral setting elevates Russia and implies Ukraine or arms-control content on the agenda, while parallel bilaterals would keep the US-China trade and technology track separate from the Russia file, and the two configurations have tended to price differently across energy and defence-linked names. Washington pressing Beijing to agree to the meeting is consistent with past patterns where the US sought a high-visibility stage for a trade or tariff announcement, and Chinese side has historically used acceptance of the meeting itself as leverage, conceding the date only in exchange for preparatory concessions. The market-sensitive channels in comparable episodes have been crude and European gas on any Russia-Ukraine angle, and the China-exposed equity and FX complex on the bilateral trade track, with gold typically catching a bid when format or timing has looked shaky. What settles the read is confirmation from Beijing and Moscow, the announced agenda, and whether foreign and finance ministry officials are scheduled to meet beforehand; silence from either capital has in past episodes been the earliest sign the event slips or downgrades.