'Time For Somebody Else To Negotiate': Trump Open To Putin-Xi Talks On Ukraine

US President Donald Trump told AP on Monday that he was open to a three-way discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping over the war in Ukraine, while saying Kyiv might need another negotiator. “Anything I can do to end the war, whether somebody’s there or not,” Trump told AP when asked whether he would meet Putin and Xi without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He said the planned conversation would focus mainly on nuclear weapons and denuclearisation, although trade and other issues could also be on the table. “We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearisation,” Trump said to AP reporters outside the White House. “If President Xi wants to have it, I'd have it,” he told AP.

AP reported that the Kremlin said officials had already raised the idea of a three-way meeting, which could take place on the margins of next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China. The meeting has not been formally confirmed.

Zelenskyy Under Fire

Trump again attacked Zelenskyy, AP reported, saying the Ukrainian leader should have struck a deal with Russia sooner and casting doubt on how he has managed the war.

“Zelenskyy doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Trump told AP, responding to the Ukrainian president’s criticism of the US administration. He then questioned whether Zelenskyy should stay Ukraine’s main negotiator in any peace effort.

“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 told AP. “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.”

He made the comments amid widening tensions between Washington and Kyiv over US policy toward Russia, including the easing of some sanctions and concerns about disruptions to Ukraine’s satellite communications and intelligence-sharing arrangements, AP reported.

Putin’s Summit Proposal

The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin proposed a trilateral summit with Trump and Xi during an October 9 phone call with the US president. The meeting could be held during the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, on November 18 and 19.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the newspaper that talks about a possible meeting were under way, but there was still no clear understanding of the meeting or its agenda.

Trump told AP that he would join such a meeting if Xi backed the idea. He said denuclearisation was a key aim and indicated that trade could also be discussed.

Ukraine Representation Questions

The possible summit has sparked new questions about Ukraine’s role in any talks on the war, AP reported.

Zelenskyy has also said that a possible trilateral meeting involving Putin could take place in the United States during the G20 summit in December. Confirmation from Moscow and Washington was still awaited.

Any meeting between Trump, Putin and Xi would also sharpen scrutiny of whether Kyiv is directly represented in decisions linked to the war’s future.