Putin proposes trilateral summit with Trump and Xi to negotiate end to Ukraine war

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly proposed a trilateral summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on an Oct. 9 phone call. The proposed meeting, which would exclude Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, may occur at the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen. The report follows recent U.S. actions seen as pro-Russian, including temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian diesel exports and waiving new Russia sanctions, which have drawn criticism from Ukraine and European allies. Tensions have escalated with Kyiv and Moscow trading strikes over the weekend, including a Ukrainian drone attack on a St. Petersburg oil terminal and Russian missile strikes on Kyiv. Ukraine has also accused Washington of restricting its Starshield military satellite networks, a claim Trump denied, though SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attributed the restrictions to the U.S. government.