Putin proposes meeting Trump in China: Kremlin outlines summit preparations
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin proposed meeting US President Donald Trump in China during talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg. The Kremlin claims Beijing is already preparing the leaders’ meeting.
Reuters reported this, citing Russian state television, Censor.NET reports.
Summit in Shenzhen
According to Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov, the possibility of holding a Russia–US–China summit in Shenzhen was discussed during Putin’s meeting with Witkoff.
"Our Chinese friends, the hosts of the APEC summit, will handle, or rather, are already handling preparations for it. And if circumstances are favourable, they, our Chinese friends, will of course include this meeting in the programme of events in Shenzhen," he told reporters.
Reuters notes that the Kremlin had previously raised the possibility of trilateral talks between Putin, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China. After meeting Witkoff, Putin reportedly met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in St. Petersburg and said there would be an opportunity to meet Xi at the APEC summit.
Details of the Witkoff–Putin meeting
According to Russia’s Interfax, the talks lasted about three hours. Another Trump representative, Jared Kushner, was unable to fly to St. Petersburg because of illness. He was expected to join the meeting by phone to present several ideas.
Ushakov said Witkoff had briefed Putin on the substance of the talks in Oslo and noted "some new elements in the approaches of the Europeans and Ukraine".
- According to Ushakov, Putin asked Witkoff to convey his best wishes to Trump and expressed interest "in continuing joint work between the two countries, including through the channels of the relevant agencies and intelligence services".
- The Kremlin leader also conveyed his gratitude to US First Lady Melania Trump for her humanitarian efforts and mediation in resolving the situation in Oleshky, Kherson region.
