Key facts
- Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin and Trump will discuss the full range of issues on a Ukraine settlement at the APEC summit.
- Trump and Putin are scheduled to attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, on November 18-19.
- Ushakov has previously said the leaders may also hold trilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
- No Ukrainian or European representatives will attend the China talks, the report said.
- US representatives said Europe should play a direct role in negotiations, a position Kyiv and European partners have long advocated.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss "the full range of issues" on ending the war in Ukraine with US President Donald Trump at a planned meeting at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on November 12, according to the Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti.
Trump and Putin are scheduled to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on November 18-19. Ushakov has previously said the two leaders may also hold trilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the conference.
Ushakov's comments came a day after the latest round of US-brokered peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine concluded in Abu Dhabi. The talks ended with both sides agreeing to another prisoner exchange, but no major breakthrough was achieved. US representatives also said Europe should play a direct role in negotiations, a position Kyiv and its European partners have long advocated.
No Ukrainian or European representatives will attend the China talks. The prospect of high-level negotiations that exclude key partners while including Beijing has drawn skepticism. "A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China, and the U.S. would do only ... encourage Putin to continue this war," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in October. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Xi has no interest in hosting such a summit, after speaking with the Chinese leader himself.
Sybiha said a trilateral meeting with Trump, Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be a far more productive step toward peace. The Russian president has consistently refused to meet Zelensky face-to-face in a neutral setting. Kyiv has long maintained there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine present, and Zelensky has said he will "never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia" made without Ukraine's participation.