President Trump said Monday that he has not agreed to a trilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping but that he is open to one, saying the meeting could focus on nuclear weapons rather than the war in Ukraine.3,5
Trump spoke to reporters on the White House's South Lawn before heading to a midterm rally in Kansas. Asked about the Ukraine war, he said, "I would do it." Axios quoted him further: "I would do it, not so much for Ukraine, we would have it to talk about denuclearization," he said.3,5
Axios reported that Trump wants the meeting to take place in China next month, when he is expected to travel for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in the southern city of Shenzhen in mid-November. The same outlet reported that the Chinese government has not expressed a willingness to hold such a summit.5
The idea did not originate with Trump. The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin is proposing a summit with Trump and Xi to discuss a potential end to the war in Ukraine, and CBS News carried that report.7
Axios reported that the Kremlin has been floating the idea of such a meeting since July. Putin raised the issue in two phone calls with Trump, including one the week before Trump's remarks, according to the same outlet.5
The accounts differ on the purpose of the meeting. Axios said Trump's aim is denuclearization and not necessarily Ukraine. The Journal's report, as summarized by CBS News, described Putin's proposal as a way to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Trump's own words on Monday were consistent with the Axios account.5,7
Trump has spoken for two years about his aspiration to reach a deal with Russia and China to reduce the number of nuclear weapons, Axios reported. So far, Axios said, Putin and Xi have not shown much openness to the idea. Axios also described a summit between the leaders of the United States, China and Russia as unprecedented.5
The New York Post's headline on the proposal described a meeting between Putin, Xi and Trump as a redux of Yalta, which it said divided up the world after World War II, and attributed that characterization to a report.4
The Washington Times and the Washington Examiner both framed the proposal around Putin's push to bring the United States and China into talks on ending the war in Ukraine, with the Examiner's headline describing Putin as wanting Xi at the Ukraine negotiating table with Trump.2,6
Trump's comments came as he campaigned ahead of the midterm elections, with a rally in Kansas on his schedule that day. The reports did not include any remarks from Putin or Xi on the proposal, and the Politico Europe report carried Trump's statement as its main headline without further detail in the text available.3,1
The reports do not say whether Putin or Xi has formally accepted the idea, and they give no details on the format, agenda, or participants beyond the timing tied to the Asia-Pacific meeting. Axios reported that the Chinese government has not expressed a willingness to hold such a summit.3,5,7
Any meeting in China next month would depend on Beijing's agreement, and Trump's expected trip to Shenzhen for the mid-November leaders' meeting is the next scheduled point at which the three leaders could be in the same region.5