Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a high-stakes trilateral meeting next month with US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the war in Ukraine and pursue an end to the conflict, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing diplomatic sources.
Putin raised the initiative during an October 9 telephone call with Trump, according to a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the discussion.
The exchange also yielded an arrangement that would allow the United States to buy Russian diesel fuel and help redistribute it across global energy markets.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that preliminary contacts over a prospective summit are taking place.
"There is no clear understanding yet regarding the meeting itself or its potential agenda, although all three parties acknowledge the hypothetical possibility of such a meeting taking place," Peskov told the newspaper.
A senior US official noted that whilst Trump has not formally committed to the summit, he could remain receptive given his desire to fulfil campaign pledges to halt the war.
APEC sidelines
Sources familiar with the discussions said Moscow proposed holding the trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, scheduled for November 18–19 in Shenzhen, China.
Russian envoys raised the matter with Beijing through diplomatic channels, where Chinese authorities indicated they would not oppose the gathering should Washington agree.
The former Russian intelligence officer claimed Putin viewed the format as a modern equivalent of the 1945 Yalta Conference, seeking to delineate major global spheres of influence.
The proposal follows Trump's deal with Putin to import Russian diesel to curb domestic fuel costs, alongside the US president's decision on Friday to pause new congressional sanctions on Moscow.
