Embodiments of the present invention disclose a communication method, an apparatus, and a system. The communication method includes: receiving, by a terminal device, a context identifier sent by a second radio access network device, and sending, to a first radio access network device, a first message that includes the context identifier; receiving, by a core network device, a second message sent by the first radio access network device, and sending, to the second radio access network device, a message that includes the context identifier; and receiving, by the core network device, context information of the terminal device that is sent by the second radio access network device, and sending the context information to the first radio access network device. Therefore, communication between the first radio access network device and the second radio access network device is ensured, and working efficiency is improved.