Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a three-way summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next month to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, as Trump defended easing sanctions on Moscow and again accused Zelenskyy of not wanting peace.
Putin raised the idea in an Oct. 9 phone call with Trump, the same call that produced the U.S.-Russia diesel deal, a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter told the Journal.
The Kremlin suggested holding the meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18-19.
A summit deciding Ukraine’s fate without Kyiv or Europe would be unprecedented, alarming European capitals, while Washington’s warming ties with Moscow deepen the rift between Trump and Zelenskyy.
US President Donald Trump (C) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shake hands after delivering a joint press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15, 2025. (AFP Photo)
Peskov: ‘Hypothetical possibility’
“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,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the WSJ.
A senior U.S. official said Trump had not agreed to the summit but could be receptive, given his campaign promise to end the war. China indicated it would not object if Trump agreed, people familiar with Moscow-Beijing discussions said.
“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 of the Stimson Center.
The former intelligence officer told WSJ that Putin has broad, if unrealistic, ambitions for the format as a second Yalta summit dividing the world into spheres of influence. Chinese officials are concerned the meeting could overshadow Beijing’s APEC agenda and strain its ties with Europe, people close to the discussions said.
Trump: Won’t drive Russia ‘away from bargaining table’
“My decision on Russia is a very simple one. 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 on Truth Social on Sunday, defending his waiver of sanctions under the Graham Act.
“Great progress” is being made, “and that includes current hostage negotiations!” he wrote, without elaborating.
“Perhaps more importantly, Russia is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran, compared to what they could be doing, and I want to keep it that way, and will, unless stupid people get in the way,” Trump said.
US President Donald Trump speaks at a midterm campaign rally at Truist Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky on October 17, 2026. (AFP Photo)
Trump: Zelenskyy ‘doesn’t want to end this war’
Trump’s post followed a Ukrainian strike on an oil terminal in St. Petersburg, Putin’s hometown.
“Zelenskyy is using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States,” he wrote.
“Zelenskyy doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him, and that Crooked Joe Biden gave him in the past, he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” Trump said.
“I want this war end!” he added.
Zelenskyy said Saturday that easing sanctions only “encourages” Putin.
October 19, 2026 09:14 AM GMT+03:00
