Putin Proposes Trump and Xi Summit on Ukraine at APEC, Kremlin Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed that he, US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet next month to talk about ending the war in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. The Kremlin has suggested holding the talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, on November 18 and 19.

Ukraine would not be at the table. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not part of the proposed format, and that absence has alarmed Kyiv and European governments, the Journal said. US led efforts to broker an end to the war have been largely stalled.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that discussions about a possible meeting are taking place. "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," Peskov told the Journal. A senior US official said Trump has not agreed to the summit, but could be receptive to the idea, given his stated aim of settling the war. The White House declined to comment, and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Raised on the October 9 call

Putin floated the idea in an October 9 phone call with Trump, a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter told the Journal. That same call produced a deal for the United States to buy Russian diesel fuel and help sell it on the global market. Russian officials later put the proposal to Beijing. People close to recent talks between Moscow and Beijing said China indicated it would not object if Trump agrees to take part.

This time the proposal comes after a sharp turn in relations between Moscow and Washington. On Friday, Trump halted the implementation of sanctions due to be imposed on Russia under a bipartisan law he signed last month, drawing criticism from lawmakers in both parties.

Trump defends the sanctions pause on Sunday

Trump defended that decision on Truth Social on Sunday, after Ukraine struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg, Putin's hometown. He accused Zelenskyy of targeting Russian diesel refineries and said the Ukrainian leader "doesn't want to end this war, and probably never did."

"I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don't want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table," Trump wrote. "I WANT THIS WAR END!" he added. He said great progress is being made, including on hostage negotiations, without saying which negotiations he meant.

What Moscow and Beijing would gain

Moscow sees a three way meeting as a way to cement Russia's place in a club of great powers, the Journal reported. The format leaves out Europe, which the Kremlin sees as its main obstacle to winning the war. The former officer said Putin sees the format as a second Yalta summit that would divide the globe into spheres of influence, ambitions the Journal described as unrealistic.

For Xi, hosting talks on Chinese soil would be a step in China's effort to be seen as a diplomatic power broker. "China wants to be seen as the pivot of the great powers, and potentially as a mediator between the U.S. and Russia," said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington. No meeting has been agreed, no agenda has been set, and it remains unclear whether Trump will accept the proposal.