Putin proposes summit with Trump and Xi to discuss Ukraine deal, WSJ says

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed holding a summit next month with US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the four-year-old Ukraine war on terms favourable to Moscow, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the discussions.

The proposal comes amid warming ties between Trump and Putin, particularly after the US president announced a deal to buy Russian diesel and signed an executive order on Friday waiving key sanctions on Moscow.

Citing a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter, the newspaper reported that Putin raised the idea during a telephone call with Trump on October 9, which also resulted in the diesel deal between the two countries.

The Kremlin has proposed holding the trilateral talks on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, scheduled for November 18-19 in Shenzhen, China, the report said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the newspaper that discussions were underway about a possible 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,” he said.

A senior US official told the Journal that Trump had not agreed to the proposed summit but could be receptive to the idea.

The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while the Kremlin could not immediately be reached outside regular business hours. The Russian and Chinese embassies in Washington also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump’s diesel deal with Putin and the executive order waiving sanctions on Moscow have drawn criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has warned that the moves could embolden Putin and prolong the war.