CANBERRA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Friday said that a trilateral summit meeting of Australia, Japan and the United States was being considered.

    That will be the first-ever summit of the three countries.

    "It's a possibility that, not of course actually as part of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) but in the margins on APEC, there could be trilateral meetings," Downer was quoted by Australian Associated Press as saying.

    "It's something that is being considered, I can tell you that, but we will have to wait and see how that goes between now and then... that will all be finalized one way or the other when the time comes," he said.

    Downer's statements came as a Japanese newspaper reported the meeting will occur on Sept. 8 in Sydney, on the sidelines of the APEC meetings.

    There are also reports quoting Japanese government officials assaying that the three-way meeting would be aimed at ensuring security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.