SAINTPETERSBURG: A trilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, his US counterpart Donald Trump and Xi Jinping of China is `being prepared`, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

`A possible first-ever meeting of the leaders of China, Russia and the United States... is being prepared,` Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, adding that the aim was to include the meeting in the programme of the APEC summit in Shenzhen on Nov 18-19.

The Kremlin said Beijing was already preparing what it said would be the first meeting of its kind in history.

Asked about a report published in the Wall Street Journal stating Putin had proposed such a meeting in order to dis-cuss how to end the conflict in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the leadership of China, Russia and United Stated could hold a three-way meeting on the sidelines of next month`s APEC summit in China and that a potential meeting had come already up in talks.

However, he did not specify agenda of the meeting.

`Given that all three heads of state may potentially take part in the summit in China, the subject of such a hypothetical meeting was indeed raised.

It was raised, but no specific proposals or agreements were discussed or put forward by anyone, either regarding the meeting itself or the possible agenda and content of that meeting,` he added.-Agencies