Putin proposes Ukraine summit with Trump and Xi, Wall Street Journal reports

Washington, United States. Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested meeting US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month to seek an agreement ending the four-year Ukraine war on terms favourable to Moscow, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. A senior US official told the newspaper that Trump had not accepted the proposal but might be open to it.

Proposed talks alongside APEC summit

According to people familiar with the discussions cited by the Journal, the Kremlin has proposed bringing the three leaders together alongside the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, scheduled for November 18 to 19.

The newspaper cited a former Russian intelligence officer who had been briefed on the matter as saying Putin raised the idea during an October 9 call with Trump. That conversation also produced an agreement for the United States to purchase Russian diesel, the report said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the Journal that a possible meeting was under discussion.

“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,” Peskov told the newspaper.

Diesel agreement and sanctions draw criticism

The proposal follows an improvement in relations between Putin and Trump, particularly after Trump announced the Russian diesel purchase agreement and signed an executive order on Friday lifting key sanctions against Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has criticised both the diesel agreement and the sanctions waiver, warning that they would encourage Putin and extend the war.

Requests for comment

Reuters received no immediate response from the White House to its request for comment. The Kremlin could not immediately be contacted outside normal working hours, while neither the Russian nor Chinese embassy in Washington immediately answered requests for comment.