Washington: US President Donald Trump signalled on Monday that he is fully willing to hold a high-stakes trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping to end the war in Ukraine and pursue global denuclearisation, even if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is excluded from the negotiations.
Speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for Kansas, Trump confirmed he would readily meet with the Russian and Chinese leaders to broker peace and halt nuclear proliferation.
"Anything I can do to end the war, whether somebody’s there or not, whatever I could do to end the war," Trump said when asked if he would meet with Xi and Putin without Zelenskyy present. "And they do want to have a meeting. That’s my suggestion, because I’m going to be over in China in November, on the denuclearisation. And if we can do denuclearisation, I will have done the world a big, big favour."
Addressing questions about a potential three-way meeting with Moscow and Beijing, Trump said a summit had not yet been formally arranged but that he supported the idea, primarily as a platform for global denuclearisation.
"No, but I would do it," Trump said regarding a trilateral meeting. "Not so much for Ukraine, because Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven’t been doing much. And the same thing with China. We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearisation. And anytime I can have a meeting on denuclearisation… We have more—during my term, I did it. We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. Russia is second, China is third, but catching up."
Suggesting that Beijing could host the talks following his upcoming trip to Asia, Trump added: "We would schedule a meeting based on the denuclearisation, and that’s a very positive thing for the world. So, I would do it… If President Xi wants to have it, I’d have it. I’m sure we’d talk about other things like trade, too."
When asked about Zelenskyy’s recent remark that the US administration was on "the wrong side of history", Trump criticised the Ukrainian leader’s handling of the conflict and suggested that someone else could negotiate on Ukraine’s behalf.
"Zelenskyy doesn’t know what he’s talking about," Trump declared. "Zelenskyy is a man who should have had this war settled a long time ago. If he would have listened to me, he would have made a much better deal a long time ago, and he’d have a million people living from his side."
Arguing that the battlefield stalemate had resulted in heavy human losses without significant territorial shifts, Trump said Kyiv needed a different representative at the negotiating table.
"To be honest, I don't think—I think it’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine, because what’s happened, very little land has moved, but a million people, a tremendous number of people are dead," Trump asserted. "They’re losing their male population. Ukraine could have had this thing settled a long time ago if he would have listened to me, and you remember the Oval Office, he would have had this settled a long time ago. Maybe it’s time for Zelenskyy to get somebody else to negotiate."
Earlier on Sunday, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Putin had proposed a trilateral summit with Trump and Xi next month to discuss the Ukraine conflict, with the aim of negotiating a peace deal favourable to Moscow.
The proposal reflects an effort by Putin to capitalise on improving relations with Trump, a move that has raised concerns in Ukraine and among Washington's European allies, particularly over the lack of Ukrainian representation, the report said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the WSJ that discussions about a possible meeting were under way.
“There is no clear understanding yet regarding the meeting itself or its potential agenda, although all three parties acknowledge the hypothetical possibility of such a meeting taking place,” Peskov told the WSJ.
Earlier this month, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said, as reported by TASS, that Trump and Putin could meet in person on the sidelines of the upcoming APEC summit in China.
"An important international event is coming up in China - the APEC summit. At least for now, both the Russian and US leaders are interested in attending. Accordingly, if both leaders are at the same international venue, I assume they will find an opportunity to meet, shake hands and talk," Ushakov said, as quoted by TASS.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said on Saturday that a potential trilateral meeting involving Putin could take place in the United States during the upcoming G20 Summit in December. He added that confirmation from Moscow and Washington was still awaited.
