Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a Putin Trump Xi summit to discuss a deal to end the war in Ukraine, in a move that would sideline Kyiv and alarm European capitals, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
Putin floated the idea of the three leaders meeting next month during an October 9 phone call with US President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the discussions cited by the Journal. The call also produced a deal for the United States to buy Russian diesel fuel and help sell it on the global market.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that discussions were under way. “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,” he told the Journal.
Putin Trump Xi Summit Could Take Place at APEC in Shenzhen
The Kremlin has suggested holding the Putin Trump Xi summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering, which takes place on November 18 and 19 in Shenzhen, the southern Chinese technology hub.
Russian officials proposed the idea to Beijing through diplomatic channels, and the Chinese side has indicated it would not object if Trump agrees, according to people close to recent discussions between Moscow and Beijing.
A senior US official told the Journal that Trump had not agreed to such a summit but could be receptive, given his desire to fulfil a campaign promise to settle the war. Trump said the conflict would end on “day one” of his new term; he is now approaching two years in office.
What a Putin Trump Xi Summit Would Mean for Ukraine
A Putin Trump Xi summit held without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be unprecedented, the Journal reported, and would send alarm bells ringing in European capitals and beyond. Moscow sees the format as a way of cementing Russia’s membership of a club of great global powers — a status Putin has sought since entering the Kremlin in 2000.
The format also excludes Europe, which the Kremlin regards as its main obstacle to victory in Ukraine. A former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter said Putin had broad, if unrealistic, ambitions for a second Yalta-style carve-up of spheres of influence.
The proposal comes as Trump has shown renewed frustration with Zelensky, telling him to stop Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and suggesting the country needs a new president. On Sunday, Trump accused Zelensky on Truth Social of not wanting to end the war after Ukraine struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg.
The Putin Trump Xi Summit and China’s Calculus
For Xi Jinping, a Putin Trump Xi summit on Chinese soil would mark a big step in efforts to elevate China as a diplomatic power broker, analysts said. “China wants to be seen as the pivot of the great powers, and potentially as a mediator between the US and Russia,” said Yun Sun of the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank.
But the Putin Trump Xi summit carries risks for Beijing. Chinese officials worry a geopolitical sideshow could overshadow their plans to use APEC as a showcase of China’s regional role, and that a trilateral meeting could draw China more directly into the Ukraine conflict, provoking a backlash from European capitals already wary of Beijing’s tilt toward Moscow.
The Putin Trump Xi summit proposal also lands against the backdrop of Trump’s recent economic dealings with Moscow. Trump has just finalised an arrangement to buy Russian diesel in a bid to lower fuel prices that have slowed the American economy, and on Friday he halted the implementation of sanctions due under a bipartisan bill he signed last month — moves that drew criticism even from some of his allies.
Energy experts cited by the Journal said the Iran war, now in its seventh month, was the primary cause of rising diesel prices, and that the amount of fuel Russia had promised to sell would not move the market much. For Putin, meanwhile, the proposed Putin Trump Xi summit offers something more valuable than fuel sales: the image of three great powers deciding the fate of a fourth.
The White House declined to comment on the report, and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. It remains unclear whether the Putin Trump Xi summit will ever take place. “I WANT THIS WAR END!” Trump wrote on Sunday, as US-led efforts to broker an end to the conflict remained largely stalled.