Russia has announced that preparations have begun for a trilateral meeting between Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Kremlin hopes to use the talks to discuss ending its war against Ukraine on terms favorable to Moscow, while Trump has identified nuclear disarmament as the main topic of a possible summit.
Russian media reported this, citing Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.
Speaking to journalist Pavel Zarubin, Ushakov said that all three capitals were ready to hold the meeting.
“I can now say with certainty that Moscow, Beijing and Washington are, in principle, ready to hold it, and preparations have already begun,” the Kremlin official said.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Putin proposed the idea of a trilateral summit to Trump during a phone call on October 9.
According to the newspaper’s sources, the meeting has been proposed on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on November 18–19 in Shenzhen, China.
Sources cited by the WSJ claim that Putin intends to seek an agreement to end the war in Ukraine on terms favorable to Russia.
Trump previously said he would not oppose a meeting with Putin and Xi Jinping but did not consider Ukraine to be its primary focus.
“We would hold this meeting to discuss nuclear weapons and nuclear disarmament,” the US president explained.
