Putin proposes Ukraine summit with Trump and Xi – without Kyiv, WSJ reports
Putin has suggested meeting Trump and Xi at the APEC summit in Shenzhen in November to discuss ending the war, without Ukraine, the WSJ reports. The Kremlin confirms talks; Trump: “going very well.”
Archive image · Photo: Official Website of President of Russia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported. Ukraine would not take part. Moscow suggested holding the talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18-19, according to the report. Putin raised the idea during an Oct. 9 phone call with Trump, the same call that produced a U.S. deal to buy Russian diesel.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that talks on a possible meeting are underway but said there was no clear understanding yet of the meeting itself or its agenda, Reuters reported. A senior U.S. official told the newspaper that Trump had not agreed to a summit but could be receptive. Asked by reporters on Sunday evening, Trump said only that things were going “very well.” The Journal reported that the proposal aims at ending the war on terms favorable to Moscow.
The proposal comes amid rising tension between Washington and Kyiv. On Friday, Trump signed an order waiving key sanctions on Moscow, and he has pressed Kyiv to stop striking Russian infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the diesel deal and the sanctions waiver, saying they could strengthen Putin and prolong the war. The White House and the Russian and Chinese embassies did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.