Kremlin says Putin, Trump and Xi could hold a three-way meeting in China next month

The Kremlin said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin, ‌US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could hold a three-way meeting on the sidelines of next month’s APEC summit in China and that a potential meeting had come ​up in talks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was commenting after being asked ​about a report in the Wall Street Journal which said that ⁠Putin had proposed such a meeting in order to discuss how to end ​the conflict in Ukraine.

“Given that all three heads of state may potentially take part ​in the summit in China, the subject of such a hypothetical meeting was indeed raised. It was raised, but no specific proposals or agreements were discussed or put forward by anyone, ​either regarding the meeting itself or the possible agenda and content of that ​meeting,” said Peskov.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha criticised the idea of such a summit.

“A trilateral ‌meeting between ⁠the leaders of Ukraine, the US, and Russia could help end the war sooner. A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China, and the US would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war,” he said on ​X.

Peskov, who told reporters on ​a daily conference ⁠call that the US was continuing its mediation efforts to resolve the conflict and that Russia appreciated those efforts, said ​it was obvious that Ukraine would need to be involved ​in any ⁠final peace deal.

“Of course, a final settlement is impossible without the participation of someone in Kyiv who is prepared to take responsibility,” he said.

The last US-mediated peace talks took ⁠place ​in February before the United States and Israel ​launched a war against Iran. Ukraine and Russia remain as far apart as ever when it comes ​to the terms of any possible peace deal.