BAKU, Oct. 14 -- Moscow has now confirmed that Vladimir Putin will fly to Shenzhen next month for the APEC summit and a meeting with Xi Jinping, and it is far less sure about the other leader it says he might meet there: Donald Trump.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday in Baku that "the Russian leader will visit Shenzhen to attend the APEC summit next month" and that Moscow is "looking forward to another conversation with Mr. Xi Jinping," TASS reported. The two men have already met twice this year, Lavrov noted, during Putin's official visit to China and on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek.

The Xi meeting already has an agenda attached. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters at Russian Energy Week t...