The key facts

  • Putin proposed a trilateral meeting with Trump and Xi Jinping during the October 9 call, WSJ reports citing a former Russian intelligence officer
  • The Kremlin proposes holding the summit on the sidelines of APEC in Shenzhen on November 18–19; China, according to sources, does not object if Trump agrees
  • Trump has not agreed to the meeting but may be open to the idea; the call also produced an agreement for the US to purchase Russian diesel fuel

Proposal of a trilateral summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed holding a trilateral meeting next month with US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the war in Ukraine and find ways to end it on terms favorable to Moscow, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to the outlet, citing a former Russian intelligence officer familiar with the situation, Putin raised this proposal during a phone call with Trump on October 9.

Venue and format

According to people familiar with the discussions, the Kremlin proposed holding the trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit, which will take place on November 18–19 in Shenzhen (China). Russian officials raised the issue with Beijing through diplomatic channels, and, according to sources, China said it would not object if Trump agreed. The former intelligence officer noted that Putin had previously proposed a trilateral summit with Trump and Xi several times.

Positions of the parties

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed that discussions about a possible meeting are ongoing: “There is not yet a clear understanding regarding the meeting itself or its potential agenda, although all three sides acknowledge the hypothetical possibility of holding it,” he told the outlet. A senior US official said Trump has not agreed to the proposed summit but may be open to the idea, given his desire to fulfill a campaign promise to end the war.

Diesel fuel and sanctions

According to WSJ, the same October 9 call led to an agreement for the US to purchase Russian diesel fuel and help sell it on the global market. Trump, it is reported, recently struck a deal with Putin to buy Russian diesel fuel in order to lower fuel prices that were weighing on the US economy and weakening Republicans' position ahead of the midterm elections. On Friday, Trump also suspended the implementation of sanctions against Russia under a bipartisan bill he signed last month.

Motives and concerns

According to the former intelligence officer, Putin has ambitious, though potentially unrealistic, goals for the trilateral format, seeing it as a second Yalta summit that would divide the world into spheres of influence. Some people familiar with the discussions noted that Chinese officials feared such a geopolitical “side plot” could overshadow Beijing's plans to use the APEC summit to showcase China's role in the region. According to them, Xi seeks to balance between continuing to support Putin and the need to preserve China's economic ties with Europe.