Putin Floats Trump–Xi Ukraine Summit Without Kyiv or Europe as Trump Holds Back New Russia Sanctions
Vladimir Putin has proposed a three-way meeting with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at November’s APEC summit in Shenzhen to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, according to The Wall Street Journal, while Trump delays new sanctions on Russia and criticizes Kyiv’s conduct of the war.
Vladimir Putin is testing a new diplomatic track on Ukraine that runs through Washington and Beijing, not Kyiv. According to The Wall Street Journal, he has proposed a trilateral meeting with Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on 18–19 November to talk about a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that discussions about a possible meeting are underway, while saying there is currently no clear understanding of whether the meeting will take place. Ukrainian reporting, citing the same U.S. outlet, says Putin wants to reach an agreement to end the war on terms beneficial to Moscow, and that he presented the idea of a three-way meeting to Trump during a telephone call. President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders are not part of this proposal.
A separate summary based on this reporting notes that Trump has not agreed to the summit so far, but argues that his recent easing of pressure on Russia suggests he may be open. That easing includes a 60-day suspension of new U.S. sanctions on Moscow. Senator Marco Rubio has said Trump suspended the sanctions for 60 days because he wants to see whether there is an opportunity in the talks that are going on.
Trump himself has linked his sanctions stance to an effort to shape the war’s direction. He has announced that significant progress is being made toward a settlement in Ukraine, including in negotiations over prisoners, and has said he does not want to do anything that could complicate ongoing efforts to negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine. In new messages on the evening of 18 October, he accused Zelensky of an unwillingness to end the war and criticized Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, arguing that these strikes are causing serious damage to the global diesel fuel market as well as to American farmers and businesses.
Rubio, a senior Republican senator, has framed the situation as one where diplomacy must continue even without clear proof of Russian sincerity. When asked what evidence exists that Putin is open to peace talks, he answered that this is not a criminal case but diplomacy and that in diplomacy such efforts continue. At the same time, he has emphasized that no one is winning the Ukraine war and highlighted the ongoing daily destruction of lives and infrastructure.
For Ukraine, any negotiation about its future that happens without Ukrainian representation carries obvious risks. Kyiv’s established position is that its territorial integrity and sovereignty can’t be decided by outside powers. A summit among Putin, Trump and Xi that leans toward freezing front lines could entrench Russian control over occupied territory.
European governments, which have poured large amounts of financial and military support into Ukraine, would also be watching closely. The Wall Street Journal reporting and subsequent summaries underline that no European leaders are part of Putin’s proposed format, even though the outcome would directly affect European security.
China’s potential role remains less defined in these accounts, though Beijing has previously promoted its own language for a Ukraine peace plan and has strengthened ties with Russia. A visible place at a Trump–Putin–Xi meeting would give it an opportunity to shape any discussion about the war’s end.
Signals to watch ahead of the APEC summit include whether China acknowledges or distances itself from the reported proposal, whether Trump’s public messaging on sanctions and Ukrainian strikes shifts further, and how loudly Kyiv and key European capitals restate their red lines on any settlement reached without them.
Sources
- OSINT