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Russian President Vladimir Putin is pushing for a trilateral meeting with President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine — but he’s got even bigger ambitions.
He wants a re-run of the 1945 Yalta Summit, which divided up the world after WWII, according to a report.
Putin first floated the idea during an Oct. 9 call with Trump, with the Kremlin trying to get a meeting to happen in the background of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China next month, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The goal is to get a peace deal that will favor the Kremlin, but also for Russia, China and the US to establish spheres of influence around the world, a former Moscow intelligence officer with knowledge of the talks told the Journal.
That ambition appears to harken back to the the post-World War II Yalta summit — which took place in Ukraine’s Crimea region — where President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill divided Europe into spheres of influence, cementing Moscow as a global superpower.
Putin has long pined for the days of Russia’s past greatness, but a repeat of the summit is completely unrealistic, experts said.
Under such a plan, Russia would likely assert itself in eastern Europe again, including NATO allies like Poland and Finland, with China also threatening American partners in the Pacific like Japan and South Korea.
“The problem is that this set-up runs counter to American interests in Europe and the Pacific,” Seth Jones, president of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Post.
“It also increases the possibility of World War III if Russia were to expand into NATO territory,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Jones said Putin appears eager to capitalize on being back in Trump’s good graces — after the US president paused sanctions and set up a diesel deal with Moscow.
The Russian push for diplomacy — which excludes Ukraine and all of Europe — is likely meant to distract from the losses the Kremlin has suffered this year, Jones added.
Around 500,000 Russian soldiers have died in the conflict so far, nine times more than all Soviet and Russian fatalities in all wars combined since World War II, according to the CSIS’ latest casualty report on the war.
Russia has also failed to make any significant gains on the frontlines this year, all while Ukraine has been able to reconquer hundreds of square-miles of land and liberate multiple villages in recent months.
“Russians are frustrated with how the war is going and they are making a play to increase their bargaining position,” Jones said.
“If this meeting takes place, it would definitely not be favorable to Ukraine,” he added. “But it’s clear that the war won’t end without Ukraine and Europe at the table.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed both China and the US have acknowledged the possibility of such a summit taking place, but said there is no confirmation on when it would happen or what would be discussed, the Journal reported.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday that there has been talks of meetings, but that nothing has been finalized.
“We have engaged repeatedly over the last almost two years now to try to bring about or facilitate an end to this war, and I think the President is open to anything that he can do to help bring the war to an end if it’s possible,” he said.
“And we’ll continue to look for opportunities to do that.”
On Sunday, Trump explained his recent actions — while bashing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his strikes on Moscow’s oil refineries.
“My decision on Russia is a very simple one. I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The White House declined to comment further.