Trump says he would be open to trilateral meeting with Putin, Xi

President Trump said Monday he has not yet agreed to a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, but he said he is open to it.

“I would do it,” Trump told reporters on the White House’s South Lawn before heading to a midterm rally in Kansas.

“Not so much on Ukraine because Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine, they haven’t been doing much, and the same with China,” the president continued. “We would have it to talk about weapons and denuclearization.”

Trump’s comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported Putin proposed a trilateral meeting to discuss the war in Ukraine on a call with Trump earlier this month.

The call reportedly led to the U.S. president announcing he would waive sanctions on Russia to buy diesel from the country. Trump’s move was a part of an effort to lower diesel prices ahead of the midterm elections.

Trump also noted the leaders would likely talk about other issues like trade and suggested such a summit would likely be held in China.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded to reports about the potential summit, writing it would not be acceptable.

“A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, the US, and Russia could help end the war sooner. A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China, and the US would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war,” Sybiha wrote.

Zelensky has lashed out at Trump’s move to waive sanctions on Russia regarding diesel and has said his U.S. counterpart “is on the wrong side of history.” Trump responded to the criticism on Monday, saying the Ukrainian leader does not know what he is talking about.

“Maybe it’s time for Zelensky to get someone else to negotiate,” Trump told reporters.