Donald Trump, the President of the United States, announced on Monday that he is prepared to participate in a trilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and Xi Jinping, the President of China. However, he emphasized that this meeting will not focus on the Ukraine war.
Focus of the meeting on nuclear disarmament
Trump stated in a conversation with reporters at the White House that he would attend the meeting if the purpose is to discuss nuclear disarmament. These remarks came following reports of Putin's proposal for the three leaders to meet on the sidelines of the upcoming APEC summit in China. He said: "I will do this, not so much for Ukraine. Russia has really done well in Ukraine. They haven't done much. And the same goes for China. We will have this meeting to talk about nuclear weapons and nuclear disarmament. Whenever I can have a meeting about nuclear disarmament, I will do it."
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Discussion of other topics and Trump's statements
Trump also noted that other topics may arise during the meeting, but he stressed the importance of nuclear disarmament. He said: "If President Xi wants to hold this meeting, I will participate. We will certainly talk about other issues like trade as well, but yes, I will do this."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that discussions are ongoing regarding the possibility of holding this meeting, but there is still no "clear understanding" of the potential agenda for the meeting.
The possibility of a high-level meeting among these three leaders arises as Trump has lifted sanctions against Russia and announced an agreement for diesel sales with Putin. He has also attributed the four-year war's responsibility to Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine. In response to a question about the state of the Ukraine war, Trump said: "Honestly, I think it's time for someone else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine, because what has happened to Ukraine? A lot of land hasn't changed, but millions of people, a very large number of people have lost their lives."
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