WSJ: Putin proposed trilateral meeting with Trump and Xi to negotiate Ukraine’s fate
Vladimir Putin suggested to US President Donald Trump that the leaders hold a trilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month to discuss the war in Ukraine and negotiate a peace agreement that suits the Kremlin, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing informed sources.
According to the newspaper, Putin made the proposal during a phone call with Trump on 9 October — the same conversation in which the two leaders made a deal for Washington to buy Russian diesel in a controversial reversal of years of US policy.
Putin proposed holding the meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China’s Shenzhen in mid-November. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the WSJ that discussions about such a meeting were ongoing.
The paper’s sources said Putin has proposed holding such a trilateral summit in the past, but noted that the current push comes at a more advantageous moment for Russia in its relations with Washington.
The WSJ wrote that Moscow has also conveyed its request to Beijing, which made clear that it would not object to such a summit if Trump also agreed. A senior White House official reportedly told the paper that Trump has not agreed to the meeting but could be open to the idea.
“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 said.
