Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a trilateral summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping during an October 9 phone call to discuss ending the war in Ukraine without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy present.
Putin Proposed the Trilateral Summit During an October 9 Phone Call With Trump
Russian President Vladimir Putin floated the idea of a three-way meeting involving U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone conversation on October 9, according to people familiar with the discussions. The proposed gathering would take place on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which is scheduled for November 18 and 19 in Shenzhen, China. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that discussions over a potential meeting were underway, telling reporters that 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
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😡 Putin proposes that he, Trump, and Xi Jinping decide Ukraine’s fate — without ZelenskyAccording to The Wall Street Journal, the Russian dictator has proposed a trilateral summit aimed at negotiating an end to the war on terms favorable to Moscow.The proposal was reportedly… pic.twitter.com/J4OBZ20WAP
— https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/2112083128147738628
A former Russian intelligence officer noted that Putin harbored broad and unrealistic ambitions for the gathering, hoping to turn the three-way meeting into a second Yalta Conference akin to the 1945 summit when Franklin D. Roosevelt met with allied leaders. Moscow previously issued demands seeking a legal ban on NATO expansion to Ukraine and other former Soviet republics, a halt to alliance military activities in Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia, and a return of alliance troops in Europe to the configuration established in 1997.
A senior U.S. official stated that Trump had not yet agreed to participate in the summit but might be receptive to the idea due to his stated desire to end the conflict. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that there’s been talks of a meeting. I don’t know whether it’s been finalized, but the president has been clear
that he wants the war to end. The White House declined to comment on the reporting, and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
The Exclusion of Ukraine and Warnings From Kyiv
The proposed format has drawn criticism from Ukrainian officials because it excludes President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entirely from the negotiations. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha warned that inviting Putin to such a meeting would feed his appetite for self-aggrandizement and only encourage him to continue the war. On social media, Trump criticized Zelenskyy following a Ukrainian attack on an oil terminal in Saint Petersburg, accusing the Ukrainian leader of not wanting to end the war and probably never having wanted to, while also calling on him to stop attacking Russian diesel refineries.
The president is open to anything that he can do to help bring a war to an end, if it’s possible, and we’ll continue to look for opportunities to do that.
Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State
The diplomatic friction coincides with intensified fighting. Over the weekend, Russia launched a wave of attacks involving 16 ballistic missiles and more than 200 drones across Ukraine, damaging more than 10 energy infrastructure facilities and leaving at least 550,000 households without power.
Diesel Deals and Strategic Ambitions at APEC
The October 9 phone call between Putin and Trump also yielded economic arrangements alongside the summit proposal.
For Beijing, hosting the summit on Chinese soil during APEC presents both diplomatic opportunities and risks. Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, noted that China wants to be seen as the pivot of the great powers, and potentially as a mediator between the U.S. and Russia. At the same time, Chinese officials have expressed concern that the meeting could overshadow Beijing’s regional role, while individuals familiar with the discussions noted that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is attempting to balance his support for Putin with his economic ties to Europe, creating a risk of European backlash if a trilateral meeting moves forward without continental participation.