Trump, Putin to Meet at APEC in China as Europe Seeks Seat at Ukraine Talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will continue negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine during next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday, Nov. 12.The APEC summit is scheduled to take place in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on Nov. 18-19. The Putin-Trump talks would come alongside a planned trilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which Ushakov described as the first meeting in such a format, Interfax-Ru reported.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“Naturally, during the planned meeting with him at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, discussion of the entire range of issues related to the settlement will continue,” Ushakov said, according to RIA Novosti.The announcement came after Putin’s roughly 2.5-hour meeting in the Kremlin with senior US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who arrived in Moscow after the two-day trilateral talks, which took place on Nov. 10-11, concluded in Abu Dhabi.According to a separate report from Interfax-Ru, the Kremlin will stay in touch with Witkoff and Kushner, reviewing developments with the envoys before meeting between Putin and Trump in China.The White House had not confirmed Trump’s attendance at the time of the report.A summit weeks in the makingAccording to a former Russian intelligence official cited by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Oct. 19, the idea for a trilateral summit with China was first floated by Putin, during his telephone discussion with Trump on Oct. 9. Other Topics of Interest The Kremlin has continued to suppress independent investigations into war losses as recent leaked data suggest over 400,000 deaths. The source claimed that Putin viewed the proposed meeting as an opportunity to convene a new Yalta-style conference and divide the world into spheres of influence.During the same call, the two sides reached an abrupt diesel agreement, which led to several weeks of escalating tensions between Washington and Kyiv.A senior US official confirmed that Putin had made the proposal, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio separately said that discussions were underway about a possible meeting between Trump, Putin and Xi to negotiate an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine.Speaking to Russian state television network Vesti on Oct. 25, Ushakov confirmed that preparations had begun for a trilateral summit.China confirmed it was in contact with Washington and Moscow about the summit only in early November, its first public acknowledgment after weeks of silence, without providing additional information on the meeting’s format or agenda.Kyiv, Europe push for a seatThe prospect of a meeting between Trump, Putin and Xi has prompted strong objections from both Europe and Ukraine, which have repeatedly insisted that they must be involved in any negotiations concerning their future and security.President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the idea of decisions about Ukraine being made without Kyiv at the table, while Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the summit would only encourage Putin to continue the war, instead of ending it.European leaders echoed the same position, arguing that no agreement can be imposed on either Ukraine or Europe without their consent.Meanwhile, Europe was also kept out of the core negotiations in Abu Dhabi.The UK, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission held separate consultations with Kyiv and Washington instead, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested European officials should “stay at the hotel.”However, Witkoff signaled that Europe’s position could change in the upcoming round. “We are hopeful that we can announce shortly, hopefully maybe even at the end of this meeting, the next trilateral meeting that will include the Europeans,” he said, according to CNN. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 90% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.