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US President Donald Trump said Monday he is willing to sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in China next month, confirming media reports that the three leaders could meet on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Shenzhen next month.
Trump said such a summit would centre on denuclearisation but might also touch on the war in Ukraine.
The announcement followed a Wall Street Journal report that Putin wants trilateral talks aimed at securing a peace deal that favours Moscow.
Asked by reporters whether he would join Putin and Xi to discuss Ukraine, Trump downplayed that as the main draw. “I would do it, not so much for Ukraine, because Russia, frankly, has been fine with Ukraine. They haven’t been doing much,” he said. “We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearisation.”
Pressed on whether Ukraine would come up at a meeting with the two leaders, Trump said he would do “whatever I can do to end the war".
Beijing says it has no details while Kyiv insists on involvement
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "Given that all three heads of state might potentially attend a summit in China, the topic of such a hypothetical meeting has indeed been mentioned."
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group holds a summit in the Chinese city of Shenzhen on 18-19 November. China, Russia and the United States are all members.
But Peskov added that "no substantive proposals or agreements, neither regarding the meeting itself nor its potential agenda and content, have been discussed or put forward by anyone".
China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she had no information about a possible meeting while Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga bristled at the suggestion of a meeting without Kyiv.
"A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China and the US would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war," he said.
Putin, he insisted on social media, was "not a global leader; he is a war criminal".
The Kremlin's Peskov said that "a final settlement is impossible without the participation of someone from Kyiv who is prepared to take on the responsibility".
But Putin has repeatedly ruled out meeting Zelensky until after a final peace deal is ready and has repeatedly questioned Zelensky's authority to sign a deal following the expiry of his five-year term under martial law.
Trump, who has renewed his swipes at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in recent days, on Monday said it was “time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.”
"Zelensky doesn't know what he's talking about," Trump said when asked about the Ukrainian's comments. "To be honest, I think it's time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine."