MOSCOW: Russia’s Vladimir Putin proposed a meeting with President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping next month to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Trump’s recent overtures to Putin, including a deal on diesel exports and a decision to waive a new sanctions law, have been widely criticised by Ukraine and its allies in Europe and Washington.
"Putin raised the idea of a three-way summit during an Oct 9 phone call with Trump," a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter told the newspaper. That same call resulted in the agreement for the US to buy Russian diesel and help facilitate its sale internationally.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the discussions about a possible meeting to the Journal, though he said there was not yet a firm agreement on either the summit or its agenda.
A senior US official said Trump had not agreed to attend but could be open to the proposal given his longstanding pledge to bring the war to an end, the Journal reported. On Sunday, Trump said he made deals with Russia because he doesn’t want to drive Putin away from peace talks with Ukraine.
In an interview Sunday with Bloomberg News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Trump of trying to pressure Kyiv into surrendering to Russia, as relations between the two leaders continued to deteriorate.
One possible venue offered by Putin for the meeting would be on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on Nov 18 and 19, the newspaper added.
A summit focusing on Ukraine that excluded Zelenskyy would mark an unusual diplomatic step and likely be met with protests from Kyiv and its allies.