Russian President Vladimir Putin used an October 9 telephone call with US President Donald Trump to propose talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on ending Ukraine’s four-year-old conflict, on terms that would favour Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy would have no role in the proposed meeting.
The same call produced an agreement for the US to buy Russian diesel fuel and help sell it on the global market. Trump also signed an order on Friday waiving key sanctions on Moscow.
The Kremlin has suggested holding the three-way dialogue alongside the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which is due to take place on 18 and 19 November in Shenzhen, described as a southern Chinese tech hub.
Russian officials put the proposal to Beijing through diplomatic channels. China has indicated that it would have no objection if Trump agrees to take part.
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Trump has yet to accept the proposal, though a senior US official said he could be open to it.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told the Wall Street Journal: “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”.
Putin has raised the prospect of a trilateral summit with Trump and Xi before. Moscow sees such a meeting as a means of confirming Russia’s place among the world’s great powers.
Zelenskiy has warned that the diesel arrangement and the sanctions waiver would embolden Putin and extend the war.
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