Putin proposes trilateral summit with Trump and Xi to end Ukraine war
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a trilateral summit next month with US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the Ukraine conflict on terms favoring Moscow, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The proposal reportedly came during an October 9 phone call between Putin and Trump, which also yielded a US deal to buy Russian diesel and Trump's Friday order waiving key sanctions on Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed discussions are underway, though a senior US official said Trump has not yet agreed to the summit. The meeting would potentially occur on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on November 18-19. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has criticized Trump's diesel deal and sanctions waiver, warning they would embolden Putin and prolong the war.