Trump urged to reject Putin’s summit plan with Xi — SkimNews
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- Putin has repeatedly pushed for a trilateral summit with Trump and Xi Jinping, most recently in a Oct 9 phone call, aiming to exclude Ukraine and Europe from negotiations over the war.
- Trump appears receptive to the summit idea, dismissing evidence of ongoing Russian attacks and praising Putin as 'a humanitarian' days after a Shahed drone killed six civilians in Kharkiv.
- Ukraine and European allies are excluded from the proposed great powers summit, a deliberate omission that aligns with Putin’s goal of reshaping European security without input from affected nations.
- Xi Jinping would host the potential summit in Shenzhen, giving him strategic advantage as Putin’s close ally and turning the event into a 'two against one' dynamic on China’s home turf.
- Steve Witkoff delivered a US-Ukraine-Europe ceasefire proposal to Moscow, but Kremlin representative Yuri Ushakov dismissed it as lacking substance, signaling no real interest in near-term peace talks.
- Marc Champion argues the summit would serve as a distraction, creating the illusion of diplomacy while advancing Putin’s long-term strategy to weaken Western alliances and dominate neighboring states.
Why it matters: Trump gains short-term political benefit from a US-Russia reset and symbolic summitry, but risks ceding strategic ground to Putin and Xi. Ukraine loses leverage, European allies face marginalization, and any deal made without them could unravel long-standing security commitments, all while Putin continues his war through the winter.
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