Putin Proposes Summit on Ukraine With Trump and Xi
Russia's president proposed a three-way meeting with Xi Jinping in an October 9 call with Trump, the Wall Street Journal reports. Peskov confirms talks, but says there is no clear agenda.
Serbia, a candidate for EU membership, conducts its foreign policy in an environment where decisions in Moscow, Washington and Beijing on the war in Ukraine and on sanctions against Russia reshape the framework for everyone else, so the latest proposal from the east concerns it too. Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a three-way summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, October 18, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a possible meeting is being discussed.
How did the proposal reach Trump?
According to the Wall Street Journal, Putin raised the idea in a phone call with Trump on October 9. The same call, the paper says, produced an agreement under which the United States would buy Russian diesel and help sell it on the world market. By the same report, Trump was trying to bring down fuel prices, which weigh on the American economy and reduce Republican chances in the midterm elections.
The paper cites a former Russian intelligence officer familiar with the talks as the source for the story. In his account, Putin has floated the three-way format several times before and imagines it as a second Yalta, that is, a division of the world into spheres of influence. The same source describes that goal as ambitious and potentially unrealistic.
The article names negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine on terms favorable to Moscow as the aim of the summit. None of the reports we read mentions Ukraine taking part in such a format.
What do the Kremlin and Washington say?
Peskov confirmed the talks to the Wall Street Journal but limited their scope:
“There is still no clear understanding either about the meeting itself or about its possible agenda,” Peskov said, adding that “all three sides acknowledge the hypothetical possibility of such a meeting taking place.”
A senior American official, whom the paper does not name, said Trump has not yet agreed but could be open to the idea, because he wants to fulfill his campaign pledge to end the war.
Where would Putin, Trump and Xi meet?
According to people familiar with the talks, the Kremlin proposed holding the meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, on November 18 and 19. Russia passed the proposal to Beijing through diplomatic channels, and China, according to the same sources, signaled that it would not object if Trump agrees.
Some of the paper’s sources also say there is concern in Beijing that such a meeting could overshadow China’s plans for APEC, where Xi wants to highlight China’s role in the region. Xi is also trying to balance continued support for Putin with the need to preserve economic ties with Europe.
How does this fit with Washington’s earlier moves?
On Friday, Trump suspended the application of sanctions on Russia under a law he signed last month, as we have already reported. The paper describes the diesel deal as a significant turn in Washington’s energy policy toward Moscow.
On Thursday, in an interview with Newsmax, Trump said the United States is talking with Russia and China about denuclearization. The Wall Street Journal did not say whether the proposed summit is connected to those talks.
