U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin could meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China next month for trilateral talks on ending the war in Ukraine, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday (Oct. 19).
Peskov was responding to a report in The Wall Street Journal that talks are underway to end the four-and-a-half-year-old war.
“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,” Peskov said, according to The Moscow Times, originally a Russia-based media outlet that relocated to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in the Troyan Hall of the Konstantin Palace. They were joined by Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president’s special representative; presidential aide Yuri Ushakov; and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who participated remotely, according to Business FM, a Moscow-based Russian business and financial news outlet.
Putin expressed his personal gratitude to Trump and the first lady for their efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, according to the Russian report.
Summit possible, but not planned yet
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While confirming that a trilateral meeting was being considered, Peskov said Monday that U.S. efforts to broker a peace deal continue and that Ukraine’s participation will be needed in the final agreement.
“The possibility of a trilateral meeting 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 substance of that meeting,” Peskov said.
However, Russian state news agency TASS reported that Peskov cautioned reporters Monday that, despite expectations for such a meeting, there is no “agreement” in place for a trilateral meeting between Trump, Xi and Putin.
Amb. Anil Trigunayat, former Indian ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta, who also served in diplomatic missions in Bangladesh, Mongolia, the United States, Russia, Sweden and Nigeria, told Vision Times that holding trilateral talks to end the war is “not an easy task but indications are there.”
“Moscow is keen to move on, with the bilateral track with Washington while enjoying the limelight of the potential G3 grouping of major powers, which will have an impact on the global geopolitical landscape in a decisive manner,” he said.
Officials meet in Oslo to discuss ending the war
Witkoff, meanwhile, has just returned from a meeting in Oslo, Norway, on Oct. 20 aimed at developing a coordinated proposal to end the Ukraine conflict. The talks brought together Witkoff, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and representatives from European countries, the European Union and NATO.
Witkoff said Monday, according to Business FM: “I would also like to say that we have several issues on today’s agenda for discussion. I will brief you on the results of the talks held in Oslo. I believe the negotiations were productive, and I would like to say that progress has been made.”
The U.S. special envoy said he believed the necessary groundwork for achieving a ceasefire had been laid and that the world was ready to discuss the next steps.
“I also hope that today we will discuss the next steps toward resolving the conflict and that you will consider resuming trilateral negotiations between Russia, the United States and Ukraine. Within that framework, we could discuss the next steps toward reaching a settlement. Representatives of specialist working groups could participate and discuss these issues in detail.
“Even if we cannot reach a final answer or decision on this matter today, I believe it would be good to discuss it so that you can consider the proposal. I believe that all of us—and the world—are ready for this,” Witkoff said
Ukraine’s response
The idea of a trilateral meeting between Russia and the world’s two largest powers, however, did not go down well with Ukraine, which said it had not been invited to provide input on the meeting being discussed.
“A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia could help end the war sooner. A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China and the U.S. would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote in a post on X.
Meanwhile, Peskov also confirmed that Russia has agreed to trilateral discussions on nuclear disarmament, while China has yet to agree to any such meeting.
President Donald Trump said in an interview with U.S. broadcaster Newsmax on Oct. 15 that the U.S. administration was discussing a route to denuclearization with its “peers,” suggesting that Washington was holding talks with Russia and China on nuclear disarmament.
“We’re actually talking to Russia about that, and we’re talking to China about that denuclearization,” Trump said.
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez, an analyst who monitors geopolitical and defense issues and president of Washington-based Second Floor Strategies, told Vision Times in an earlier interview that Washington needs a new treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a series of arms-control agreements between the United States and Russia intended to reduce and limit their nuclear arsenals. START expired on Feb. 5.
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