Putin proposes Ukraine talks with Trump and Xi, Wall Street Journal reports

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed meeting US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month to discuss Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. The proposed talks would not include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. They are not an agreed summit. [1]

A former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter told the Journal that Putin raised the idea in a phone call with Trump on 9 October. An unnamed senior US official told the newspaper that Trump had not agreed to take part. [2] [3]

The possibility of a three-way meeting had been discussed before that reported call. On 8 October, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had not, at that point, put forward ideas for its agenda. That statement concerned the position a day before the call described by the Journal. [4]

Asked on 15 October about a possible meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in Shenzhen, China’s embassy in Washington said it had no information on one, according to TASS. The APEC leaders’ meeting is scheduled for 18–19 November, but whether Trump and Xi would agree to separate talks with Putin remains unresolved. [5] [6]