Ongoing diplomatic engagement among the three leaders underpins the 84.5% implied probability for a sighting before 2027. Kremlin aides have publicly discussed the prospect of a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the November 2026 APEC summit in Shenzhen, where China is hosting and Putin has confirmed attendance. Recent bilateral summits, including Trump-Xi meetings in Beijing and Washington plus Putin-Xi talks, along with substantive October 2026 phone calls between Trump and Putin, have sustained momentum toward further in-person contact. Traders appear to weigh the dense schedule of multilateral forums and direct leader outreach as elevating the chance of a joint appearance well before year-end.