A global troika

Diplomacy is the art of navigating a path through adversity. Russian President Vladimir Putin's off-the-cuff proposal for a trilateral summit with his American and Chinese counterparts is an epoch-making initiative. It could go a long way toward not only providing clarity to wayward realpolitik, but also helping formulate a way forward toward a rules-based world order. The Czar was candid; he minced no words when stating that the upcoming APEC summit in China could act as an icebreaker to deliberate on issues confronting evolving multilateralism, especially the conflict in Ukraine.

This troika possesses the power and potential to bring sanity to otherwise messy global politics. It is worrisome that two major wars are underway across two continents, both of which could turn out to be catastrophic. The war in the Middle East has already taken a severe toll, interrupting supply chains and causing soaring oil prices that are pushing the world to the brink of a recession. Likewise, the Russo-Ukrainian war has effectively dismantled the deterrence that existed between Russia and the US since the heyday of the Cold War. Both of these flashpoints can be effectively addressed if Presidents Trump, Putin and Xi Jinping gather for a huddle of statesmanship.

The previous APEC meeting in South Korea served as an opportunity for Xi and Trump to forge a coordinated understanding over North Korean fractures; a similar approach could be adopted for the Middle East. Similarly, a tête-à-tête between Putin and Trump over Ukraine - with Xi playing the role of an honest broker - could be a blessing in disguise. Notwithstanding the Ukrainian Foreign Minister's objections to the proposed trilateral moot, the initiative must go ahead in all sincerity.

World leaders must take a cue from Islamabad, whose solitary initiative to mediate between arch-foes, the US and Iran, led to a landmark memorandum of understanding that paused a dreaded war in the Middle East. The huddles at the Oval Office in September between Trump and Xi, alongside the Alaska understanding between Putin and Trump, should serve as precedents for carving out an unprecedented detente on the global stage.