Putin Proposes Summit With Trump and Xi on Ukraine, Without Zelensky

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, a meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would not attend, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

According to the report, which cited people familiar with the discussions, Putin first raised the idea during an Oct. 9 phone call with Trump, the same call in which the two leaders agreed to a deal for the United States to buy Russian diesel fuel and help sell it internationally.

The Kremlin has suggested holding the talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18 and 19. Ukrainian leaders would be left out of a format that deals directly with their country’s future, a move the Journal said would likely alarm European capitals.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the discussions to the Journal. “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 said.

A senior U.S. official told the Journal that Trump has not agreed to the summit but could be receptive, given his push to end the war. Neither the White House nor the Chinese Embassy in Washington commented on the report, and the Russian and Chinese embassies in Washington did not reply to Reuters requests for comment.

Sanctions delay and the Trump-Zelensky clash

The report landed days after Trump delayed planned sanctions on Russia and signed an executive order Friday waiving sanctions on Moscow. Zelensky said the move would embolden Moscow to keep attacking Ukraine, and on Sunday Trump wrote on Truth Social that Zelensky “doesn’t want to end this war” while calling on Kyiv to stop striking Russian diesel refineries.

The proposal also arrives during a tense stretch in Washington’s dealings with Kyiv, which have included disputes over American intelligence support for Ukraine.

China’s concerns

Chinese officials have raised concerns that a trilateral meeting could overshadow China’s role as host of the APEC gathering. Reuters reported that Zelensky has warned that Trump’s diesel deal and the sanctions waiver would embolden Putin and prolong the war.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and The Wall Street Journal.