Putin proposes trilateral Ukraine summit with Trump and China’s leader
October 19 2026, 10:30
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, has proposed a meeting in November with Donald Trump, President of the United States, and Xi Jinping, leader of China, to discuss a settlement of the Ukraine conflict on terms favorable to Moscow, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing its sources.
The summit proposal comes amid a warming of relations between Moscow and Washington, particularly after the U.S. president announced a deal to purchase Russian diesel fuel and signed an order putting on hold a bill by Lindsey Graham, U.S. Senator, that would impose tough sanctions on Russia.
Citing a former Russian intelligence officer, the paper claims Putin made the proposal during his phone call with Trump on October 9. After that conversation, the U.S. president announced a pause in sanctions on Russian diesel fuel and its supply, including to the United States.
The Kremlin proposed holding the trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, to be held November 18-19 in Shenzhen, the WSJ’s sources said.
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, confirmed to the paper that a possible meeting is under discussion: “So far there is no clear understanding about the meeting itself or its potential agenda, although all three sides acknowledge the hypothetical possibility of such a meeting.”
A senior U.S. administration official told the paper that Trump has not yet agreed to the summit but may be open to the idea in general.
Yuri Ushakov, aide to the Russian president, said on October 6 that there had been no “practical discussion” of a trilateral meeting of Putin, Trump and the Chinese leader, but that “it is a quite interesting idea, it is in the air, everyone knows about it — Trump, Putin and Xi Jinping.”
Trump’s diesel deal with Putin, as well as the order suspending sanctions against Moscow, drew criticism from Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine. He warned that such steps would only embolden Putin and prolong the war, Reuters notes.
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