Kremlin says Putin, Xi and Trump could meet at APEC summit in China
The Kremlin said on Monday the Russian, Chinese and US presidents could potentially meet at the APEC summit in Shenzhen next month, but stressed no concrete proposals have been discussed and that no final Ukraine peace deal is possible without Kyiv's participation.
The Russian, Chinese and US presidents could potentially meet at an Asia-Pacific summit in China next month, the Kremlin said on Monday, but stressed that no concrete proposals for a meeting or agenda have been discussed and 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 Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald 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.
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 holds a summit in the Chinese city of Shenzhen on 18-19 November. All three countries are members.
Asked about the potential meeting during a visit to Uzbekistan, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he did not "know if anything has been finalised". "But the president has been clear: He would like the war in Ukraine and Russia to end," he told reporters. China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she had no information about a possible meeting.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga bristled at the suggestion of a meeting without Kyiv. "A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, the US and Russia could help end the war sooner," he said. "A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China and the US would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war." Putin, he insisted on social media, was "not a global leader; he is a war criminal".
Peskov said 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 the idea and said Putin's refusals to meet Zelensky show he has no interest in ending the war. The Kremlin has rejected the assertion.
