Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed that he, President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet next month to talk about Ukraine in an attempt to negotiate an end to the four-year conflict that would favor Moscow, said people familiar with the discussions.
9 phone call with Trump, said a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter. 18 and 19 in Shenzhen, the southern Chinese tech hub.
A senior U.S. official said Trump hadn’t agreed to such a summit. Still, the official said the president could be receptive to the idea, given his desire to fulfill a campaign promise to settle the war. Trump had said it would be finished on “day one” of his new term, but he is now approaching nearly two years in office. The Kremlin has suggested holding the trilateral dialogue on the sidelines of the coming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the people familiar with discussions said. A potential three-way dialogue on Chinese soil would mark a big step for Xi in his efforts to elevate China’s role as a diplomatic power broker, said analysts who study China. Russian officials proposed the idea to Beijing through diplomatic channels and the Chinese side has indicated it wouldn’t object if Trump is on board, said other people close to recent discussions between Moscow and Beijing. “China wants to be seen as the pivot of the great powers, and potentially as a mediator between the U.S. and Russia,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank. Putin has proposed a trilateral summit to both Trump and Xi on previous occasions, the former Russian intelligence officer said.
The plan represents an effort by Putin to capitalize on warming ties between Trump and the Russian leader that have alarmed Ukraine and its allies in Washington and Europe. Such a summit—one without the involvement of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—would be unprecedented and send alarm bells ringing in European capitals and beyond. Putin floated the idea in an Oct. That conversation also produced a deal for the U.S. to buy Russian diesel fuel and facilitate its sale on the global market. That gathering takes place on Nov. This time, however, it comes during a reversal of Moscow’s fortunes with Washington.
