WASHINGTON, October 11. US President Donald Trump said he did not refuse to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping) in South Korea for the upcoming APEC summit, but is unsure whether the meeting will take place.
"I haven't cancelled it, but I don't know if it will happen. But I will be there regardless, so I assume it will take place," the US leader told reporters when asked if the meeting had been cancelled. "It was just out of the blue, completely out of the blue. They came up with this whole concept of imports and exports. And nobody, nobody knew anything about it."
The Chinese government has previously extended export controls to several categories of equipment and raw materials used in the production of rare earth metals. Trump on Friday questioned the need for a planned face-to-face meeting with Xi Jinping, saying Beijing's actions rendered it meaningless. Trump confirmed on October 7 that he expects to hold talks with Xi Jinping in the Republic of Korea on the sidelines of the APEC summit, which is scheduled for late October or early November.
TASS/gnews.cz-jav