Putin, Xi and Trump could meet at APEC summit: Kremlin

MOSCOW, Oct 20: The Russian, Chinese and US presidents, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, could potentially meet at an upcoming Asia-Pacific summit in China, the Kremlin said on Monday.

No concrete proposals for a meeting or an agenda had been discussed, the Kremlin said. It also highlighted that no final deal on ending the war in Ukraine could be reached without Kyiv's participation.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Putin wanted a summit with Xi and Trump to discuss the Ukraine war, and that he hoped to broker a peace deal that favours Moscow.

The report cited unnamed people familiar with the discussions.

When asked about the report, 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."

But he 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".

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group is to hold a summit in the Chinese city of Shenzhen between November 18-19. All three countries are members.

Asked whether Putin believed he could achieve a deal without Ukraine's participation, Peskov said: "It goes without saying that a final settlement is impossible without the participation of someone from Kyiv who is prepared to take on the responsibility."

Putin has repeatedly ruled out meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr 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.

Ukraine has forcefully rejected this notion and said Putin's refusals to meeting with Zelensky show he has no interest in ending the war. The Kremlin has rejected this assertion.

Peskov's comments came after Trump waived new sanctions on Russia and struck a diesel deal with Moscow, fuelling fears in Kyiv and Europe that the White House was steering towards Moscow.

Trump has made renewed attacks on Zelensky in recent days over the war, charging that the Ukraine leader "doesn't want to end this war". Zelensky has flatly rejected the comments.