Russian leader Vladimir Putin has reportedly proposed a summit with US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the war on Ukraine. With Trump firmly on his side, Putin is looking forward to forcing Ukraine into accepting his maximalist terms.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has proposed a summit with US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Putin floated the idea during a call with Trump on October 9. Trump also struck the Russian diesel deal during the same conversation.
The Kremlin confirmed the proposal and said discussions were underway regarding a potential meeting.
“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,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov in a statement to The Journal.
The development comes at a time when Putin believes Trump is firmly on his side. In recent weeks, Trump has mounted a campaign to oust Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over his refusal to stop strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, pressured him to accept Putin’s maximalist terms, paused energy tariffs on Russia, handed Russia billions in windfall gains through the diesel deal, and scrapped intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.
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More from WorldWhile Trump has long sought to strike a deal with Putin over Ukraine, Zelenskyy and his European partners have consistently maintained that any agreement reached without their participation at the negotiating table would be meaningless.
A step towards carving out spheres of influence
Observers have argued that Trump and Putin’s desire to strike a deal over Ukraine is part of a broader agenda to carve out spheres of influence, under which Russia would gain a free hand in eastern Europe while the United States would manage the Western Hemisphere.
The Journal reported that the Putin-Xi-Trump summit could take place on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on November 18-19 in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Trump’s pivot towards Putin has coincided with US midterm elections that Republicans are expected to lose. Anger among voters has surged as petrol and diesel prices have reached record highs because of the US-Iran war. Rather than pursuing a course correction in West Asia, Trump has pressured Zelenskyy to stop strikes on Russian energy infrastructure without securing any reciprocal commitment from Putin to halt Russian attacks.
Ahead of winter, Putin has ramped up strikes across Ukraine. Civilian neighbourhoods and critical infrastructure have been among the primary targets, making the attacks all the more consequential as Ukraine has run out of Patriot interceptors. Observers have said the targeting of civilians and critical infrastructure forms part of Putin’s strategy to break Ukrainian morale and pressure the public into pushing Zelenskyy to accept Russian terms.
