According to the Wall Street Journal, Russian President Putin proposed a trilateral summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Trump to discuss ending the 4-year Russia-Ukraine war. The proposal arose from a phone call between Putin and Trump on the 9th, which led to an agreement for the US to purchase Russian diesel. The summit is suggested to be held during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Shenzhen, China from November 18th to 19th, during which Xi Jinping recently visited the US and received a warm welcome from Trump. The report said Trump remains open to the summit but has not officially agreed.
Background and Developments
Climactic Palace spokesperson Peskov confirmed that the US and Russia are in discussions to hold the trilateral summit, but "there is no clear consensus yet on the summit itself or its potential agenda." One unnamed senior US official added that while Trump hopes to end the conflict to fulfill his campaign promise, his stance on holding the summit remains undetermined.
This trilateral summit reportedly intends to exclude Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and European leaders, aiming to leverage the warming relationship between Washington and Moscow. In addition to the agreement to purchase Russian diesel, Trump also decided to pause new sanctions on Russia, highlighting the warming US-Russia relationship. However, Trump’s frustration with Zelenskyy has been increasing. He criticized Ukraine’s drone strike on Russian oil refineries and claimed on the Truth Social platform that Ukrainian leaders do not want to end the war.