The US and Russia said on Monday that President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping may hold a trilateral summit next month.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the potential venue could be the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which will be held in Shenzhen, China, on November 18 and November 19.
Peskov made the comments when asked about a report from The Wall Street Journal that said Russia had proposed the trilateral summit to discuss a deal to bring an end to the war 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,” Peskov said, according to Reuters.
The Journal report said that Putin made the proposal in an October 9 phone call, which came before Trump announced a deal had been reached for the US to purchase Russian diesel. A senior US official told the outlet that Trump hadn’t agreed to the summit but was receptive to the idea, which appeared to be confirmed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“There’s been talks of a meeting. I don’t know whether it’s been finalized, but the president has been clear. He’d like the war in Ukraine and Russia to end,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Uzbekistan.
Rubio also said that the US wants to see the war end due to the risk of escalation. “We see nothing good coming from this war,” he said. “We see a lot of downside to it, including the very real risk of escalation and spread of this thing… into another country because of a failed sabotage attack, because of drones that are hit with electronic warfare and they wander into a neighboring country.”
