A trilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is unlikely to take place, while bilateral talks remain possible, Russian political analyst Georgy Bovt has said.

Axar.az reports that Bovt made the remarks on Business FM, commenting on discussions between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about a possible meeting between Putin and Trump at the APEC summit in China in November.

"A bilateral meeting between Putin and Trump is possible, as is a separate meeting between Putin and Xi Jinping. The possibility of a trilateral format was discussed earlier, but things have since gone quiet. Apparently, Xi Jinping does not want to attend a three-way meeting. However, the substance of any bilateral meeting is also important," the analyst said.

He argued that talks would take place after the US midterm elections, which he believes could affect Trump's approach.

"It will take place after the US elections, which the Republicans are highly likely to lose, and this will affect Trump’s behaviour," he said.

Meanwhile, Rubio confirmed that he had briefly discussed with Lavrov the possibility of the two presidents interacting at the APEC summit, but stressed that they had not held a formal meeting or reached any firm commitments.