The Russian, Chinese and US presidents could potentially meet at an Asia-Pacific summit in China next month, the Kremlin said on Monday.
No concrete proposals for a meeting or agenda have been discussed, the Kremlin added and stressed that no final deal on ending the war in Ukraine could be reached without Kyiv’s participation.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted a summit with presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump to discuss the Ukraine war and that he hoped to broker a peace deal that favours Moscow.
The report cited unnamed people familiar with the discussions.
Asked about the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Given that all three heads of state might potentially attend a summit in China, the topic of such a hypothetical meeting has indeed been mentioned.”
But he added that “no substantive proposals or agreements, neither regarding the meeting itself nor its potential agenda and content, have been discussed or put forward by anyone.”
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group holds a summit in the Chinese city of Shenzhen on November 18-19. All three countries are members.
Asked about the potential meeting during a visit to Uzbekistan, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he did not “know if anything has been finalised.”
“But the president has been clear: He would like the war in Ukraine and Russia to end,” he told reporters.
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she had no information about a possible meeting.
No meeting without Kyiv
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga bristled at the suggestion of a meeting without Kyiv.
“A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, the US and Russia could help end the war sooner,” he said.
“A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China and the US would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war.”
Putin, he insisted on social media, was “not a global leader; he is a war criminal”.
“By any pragmatic or moral measure, Putin has no place at the table with presidents Trump and Xi.”
Peskov said that “a final settlement is impossible without the participation of someone from Kyiv who is prepared to take on the responsibility.”
Putin has repeatedly ruled out meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky until after a final peace deal is ready and has repeatedly questioned Zelensky’s authority to sign a deal following the expiry of his five-year term under martial law.
Ukraine has forcefully rejected the idea and said Putin’s refusals to meet Zelensky show he has no interest in ending the war. The Kremlin has rejected the assertion.
Talk of a three-way meeting between the US, Chinese and Russian leaders came after Trump waived new sanctions on Russia and struck a diesel deal with Moscow.
Trump has made renewed attacks on Zelensky in recent days, charging that the Ukraine leader “doesn’t want to end this war”. Zelensky has flatly rejected the comments.
AFP
