Germany's Steinmeier: Xi against China-US-Russia summit on Ukraine

China has shown no interest in holding a three-way summit with Russia and the United States to discuss Ukraine, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said in an interview with German television to be broadcast on Sunday evening.

Steinmeier said he had raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Beijing on Friday. The German president has since returned to Berlin.

While the presidents of the three countries were indeed likely to meet at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, Xi's response indicated Ukraine would not be on the agenda, Steinmeier told public broadcaster ARD.

"From his perspective, there is absolutely no preparation under way for a Ukraine summit involving the United States, Russia and China," Steinmeier said. "He (Xi) explicitly pointed out that this is a European conflict in which Europeans would also have to be at the negotiating table," the German president added.

When Steinmeier raised the possibility of a Ukraine summit, he said, "one could see the look of surprise on his face."

The discussion follows reports of a possible three-way summit on the sidelines of the APEC conference in mid-November. Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed such a meeting to discuss issues surrounding nuclear disarmament.

US President Donald Trump has expressed openness to the idea, saying that he would also be willing to discuss other issues, "such as Ukraine."

The text of Steinmeier's interview was made available to dpa ahead of broadcast.