Putin Proposes Summit With Trump, Xi on Ukraine War

Sources say Vladimir Putin is testing a high-stakes three-man solution to the Ukraine war—and leaving Ukraine out of the room. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Russian leader has proposed a November summit with US President Trump and China's Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Shenzhen, pitching it as a way to move toward ending the four-year conflict on terms favorable to Moscow. Trump hasn't signed on, a senior US official says, but the idea could appeal to his stalled campaign promise to quickly resolve the war.

The proposal lands as Trump has warmed to Putin, cutting a deal for Russian diesel to ease US fuel prices and pausing Russia sanctions, while publicly venting about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and urging Kyiv to curb strikes on Russian infrastructure. For Xi, hosting a three-way meeting would bolster China's image as a global broker but risks a European backlash and deeper entanglement in the war. The Journal digs into what each leader wants—and what's at stake—in the full piece.