Putin Proposes Trump-Xi Summit in China to Negotiate End to Ukraine War
Russian President Vladimir Putin has floated the idea of a three-way summit with United States President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Sunday and subsequently carried by Reuters.
Citing people familiar with the discussions, the Journal reported that Putin raised the proposal during an October 9 telephone call with Trump — the same conversation that produced a recently announced agreement for Washington to purchase Russian diesel. A former Russian intelligence officer was among those cited as describing how the suggestion came about.
According to the report, the Kremlin has suggested the leaders could convene next month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, scheduled for November 18 and 19 in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. Holding the meeting there would place the diplomacy on Chinese soil, underscoring Beijing’s ambition to position itself as a central broker in a conflict now entering its fifth year.
The Wall Street Journal characterized the contours of any potential deal as favoring Moscow — a framing likely to alarm Kyiv and its European partners, who have repeatedly warned against a settlement negotiated over Ukraine’s head.
Russian officials confirmed that talks about a possible meeting were under way but cautioned that nothing had been settled. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Journal there was “no clear understanding yet regarding the meeting itself or its potential agenda.” The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment, though a senior U.S. official told the newspaper that Trump had not committed to attending a summit but might be open to the idea. The Chinese and Russian embassies in Washington had not responded at the time of publication.
The proposal lands against a backdrop of rapidly warming ties between Washington and Moscow. In addition to the diesel agreement, Trump signed an order on Friday waiving a set of key sanctions on Russia — moves that mark a sharp departure from years of Western efforts to isolate the Kremlin economically over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Those overtures drew swift criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who argued that easing economic pressure on Moscow would embolden Putin and prolong the fighting rather than hasten its conclusion. Ukraine has insisted throughout the war that any durable peace must preserve its territorial integrity and that it cannot be excluded from negotiations affecting its own future.
A trilateral format bringing together the leaders of the United States, Russia and China would be an unusual diplomatic configuration, effectively elevating Beijing to the role of co-arbiter alongside one of the principal parties to the Western response. China has publicly presented itself as a neutral actor since the invasion began, while maintaining close economic and political ties with Russia.
As of Sunday, no summit had been formally scheduled, and officials on all sides stressed that discussions remained preliminary. Whether the three leaders ultimately meet — and whether Ukraine and its European allies would accept the terms of any arrangement reached without them — remains far from certain.