Putin proposing summit with Trump, Xi in push to end Ukraine war: WSJ

Russian President Vladimir Putin is proposing a three-way meeting with President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next month to discuss the war in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal Reported .

Putin proposed the summit during a phone call with Trump on Oct. 9, the Journal reported, citing a Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter. That phone call resulted in Trump announcing he would waive sanctions on Russia to buy diesel from the country, an effort to lower prices exacerbated by the U.S. war against Iran.

That move, alongside Trump waiving newly authorized sanctions on major importers of Russian energy, drew widespread condemnation from Kyiv and its allies in Congress. Reports of the White House ordering a slowdown in satellite services Ukraine relies on for air defense have further inflamed Kyiv’s allies in protesting Trump’s handling of the war.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Monday he believes there’s been “talks of a meeting,” when asked about The Wall Street Journal report. Rubio, who also serves as the president’s national security adviser, is on diplomatic travel to Uzbekistan.

“I think the president is open to anything that he can do to help bring the war to an end if it’s possible,” Rubio continued, adding that nothing’s been finalized.

The Journal reported Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed discussions about a potential trilateral meeting.

The White House and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

Such a summit, in particular excluding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is unacceptable to Kyiv, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote Monday on the social platform X.

The summit would only encourage Putin to continue the war, Sybiha wrote.

“Inviting Putin to such a meeting would feed his appetite for self-aggrandizement and give him a stature he does not deserve. He is not a global leader; he is a war criminal. And Russia is not a global power; it is a global problem,” Sybiha said.

A potential Putin-Trump-Xi summit could take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), scheduled to take place Nov. 18-19 in Shenzhen in southern China.

The Journal reported that such a summit could serve to elevate Xi as a negotiator and signal the three leaders carving the world into spheres of influence. But Chinese officials are also weighing the downside of a high-profile trilateral summit overshadowing China hosting APEC and promoting Beijing’s role in the region.