Putin Proposes Summit with Trump and Xi to Discuss Ukraine Deal, WSJ Says
Key Takeaways
- •Vladimir Putin has proposed a three-way summit with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the Ukraine conflict on terms favorable to Moscow.
- •The proposed dialogue would involve the three leaders, with no role outlined for Ukrainian representatives.
- •Putin floated the proposal during an October 9 phone call with Trump that also produced a US agreement to purchase Russian diesel, followed by an executive order waiving key sanctions on Moscow.
- •The Kremlin has suggested holding the meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen on November 18-19, although no agenda has been agreed and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said its occurrence remains hypothetical.
- •A senior US official said Trump has not agreed to the summit but could be receptive, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has criticized the diesel deal and sanctions waiver as moves that would embolden Putin and prolong the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a summit next month with US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end the four-year-old Ukraine conflict on terms favorable to Moscow, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the discussions. As described in the report, the proposed dialogue would involve only the three leaders, with no role for Ukrainian representatives outlined.
The proposal comes amid warming ties between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin, particularly after the US president announced a deal to purchase Russian diesel and signed an order on Friday waiving key sanctions on Moscow.
According to the Journal, which cited a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter, Mr. Putin floated the idea during an October 9 telephone call with Mr. Trump — the same conversation that produced the diesel agreement between the two countries.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, and the Kremlin could not be immediately reached outside regular business hours. The Russian and Chinese embassies in Washington also did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
The Kremlin has suggested holding the trilateral dialogue on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit — an annual gathering of the forum’s 21 member economies — set to take place on November 18 to 19 in Shenzhen, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the newspaper that discussions over a potential meeting were underway.
“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,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
A senior US official told the Journal that Mr. Trump had not agreed to such a summit, but could be receptive to the idea.
Mr. Trump’s diesel deal with Mr. Putin and the executive order waiving sanctions on Moscow have drawn criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has warned that the moves would embolden Mr. Putin and prolong the war. With no agreement from Washington, no settled agenda, and no formal response yet from the White House, whether the summit materializes on the sidelines of the November gathering remains the central open question. — Reuters
