The Kremlin’s position on a three-way summit seems to be: we talked about it, but nobody proposed anything. A Trump Xi Putin summit in China next month is now a real topic of conversation, and the Kremlin says so out loud. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Monday that a trilateral meeting was “raised.” He insisted nobody has put a concrete proposal on the table.
That is a lot softer than how the story broke. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Putin proposed the summit. The goal, it said, was to end the war in Ukraine on terms favorable to Moscow. The Washington Post then reported that Russia floated the idea for the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen. Both accounts lean on anonymous sources. For more on the pitch itself, see our earlier report on Putin’s push to seat Trump and Xi at one table.
What Moscow says about the trilateral meeting
Peskov drew a careful line. All three leaders may attend the gathering in China, he told reporters. “The subject of such a hypothetical meeting was indeed raised,” he said. He added that nobody put forward proposals or agreements on the meeting, the agenda or the substance, according to The Moscow Times.
He also said a final settlement is impossible without Kyiv. That is a notable line, since the format being floated has no seat for Ukraine. Any Putin Trump Xi meeting along those lines would leave Ukraine outside the room.
Washington and Beijing aren’t committing
Nobody on the other two sides is saying yes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke in Uzbekistan. He said he didn’t know if anything had been finalized. He added that Trump wants the war to end. A senior U.S. official told the Journal that Trump has not agreed. The official said he could be receptive, given his desire to end the war.
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she had no information about a possible meeting, per AFP. The White House and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately answer requests for comment, The Hill reported.
Kyiv’s answer to a three-way summit: absolutely not
Ukraine’s reaction was swift. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said a three-way meeting of the Russian, Chinese and U.S. leaders “would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war.”
That is not just posturing. The Journal noted that a summit on Ukraine without Ukraine would be unprecedented. It would also hand Xi a bigger role as a global power broker.
The timing is the story
Here’s the thing: this doesn’t land in a vacuum, and what gets decided in these rooms shapes sanctions, energy deals and Europe’s relationship with Washington. According to the Journal, the idea surfaced in an Oct. 9 call between Putin and Trump. That call also produced a deal for the U.S. to buy Russian diesel. That detail comes from a single anonymous former Russian intelligence officer, and no official readout confirms it. The diesel angle already has Kyiv worried, as we covered in the fight over diesel that could cost Kyiv its lifelines.
On Friday, Trump signed an order waiving key sanctions on Moscow. Ukraine and its allies in Europe and Washington have criticized his recent overtures to Putin. So a summit that sidelines Kyiv would deepen the rift with European allies. It would also tie directly into U.S. sanctions policy.
Moscow has also tried this before. In September the Kremlin said Putin and Trump had discussed a trilateral with Xi at the November summit.
What happens next at the APEC summit meeting
The APEC leaders’ summit runs Nov. 18-19 in Shenzhen, and Russia, China and the U.S. are all members. The White House has not said whether Trump will attend. Any three-way sit-down would happen on the sidelines.
Trump and Xi are already expected to meet at the Shenzhen summit. They are expected to meet again at the G20 in Miami in December.
So the real question is simple. Will a third chair get pulled up to the table? And will anyone in Washington say yes before Kyiv finds out the answer?
