Putin floats Trump-Xi summit on Ukraine; Kremlin says no agenda yet
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a summit next month with US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine on terms favourable to Moscow, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the discussions.
According to the report, which cited a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter, Mr Putin raised the idea during an October 9 telephone call with Mr Trump — the same conversation that reportedly produced a diesel purchase agreement between Washington and Moscow.
Reuters, which carried the account, said it could not independently verify the Wall Street Journal report. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the Kremlin could not be reached outside regular business hours, and the Russian and Chinese embassies in Washington did not immediately reply to queries.
The newspaper reported that the Kremlin has suggested holding the three-way dialogue on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, scheduled for November 18 and 19 in Shenzhen, China. APEC brings together Pacific Rim economies, including Russia, the United States and China.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the Journal that discussions about a possible meeting were under way, while stressing that nothing had been settled. “There is no clear understanding yet regarding the meeting itself or its potential agenda, although all three parties acknowledge the hypothetical possibility of such a meeting taking place,” Mr Peskov was quoted as saying.
A senior US official told the newspaper that Mr Trump had not agreed to such a summit, though he could be receptive to the idea. There has been no public comment from Beijing on the proposal, and the report did not indicate whether Ukraine would be represented at any such meeting.
The reported proposal follows a period of warming ties between Washington and Moscow. Mr Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel and, on Friday, signed an executive order waiving key sanctions on Russia. The full details of the diesel arrangement and the scope of the sanctions relief have not been made public.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticised the diesel deal and the sanctions waiver, warning that such moves would embolden Mr Putin and prolong the war, which began in February 2022 and has now run for more than four years.
Kyiv has repeatedly said that any settlement must rest on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that decisions about the country’s future cannot be taken without its participation. The reported trilateral format would bring together three major powers, but no official from any of the three governments has confirmed that a meeting will take place.
The conflict has caused large-scale casualties, displaced millions of people and disrupted global food and energy markets. Previous rounds of diplomacy have repeatedly stalled over questions of territory, security guarantees and sanctions, and no formal peace framework has been agreed.
For now, the only confirmed element is that talks about a possible meeting are taking place. The Kremlin has described the idea as hypothetical, Washington has said the US President has not committed to it, and Beijing has remained silent. Officials have not indicated when any decision might be taken.
