Russia, U.S. and China Float Summit Talk as Ukraine and Europe Are Sidelined
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Washington is ratcheting up pressure on Kyiv and European partners while making concessions to Moscow, and the Kremlin has floated a three-way summit with the United States and China that would pointedly leave Ukraine and the EU out of the room.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has stepped up diplomatic maneuvering this autumn in an apparent bid to restart stalled talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Washington is squeezing Kyiv and its European partners while extending concessions to Moscow, including a deal on Russian diesel exports to the United States and a temporary easing of some sanctions.
After a meeting in St. Petersburg on November 21 between U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said it is prepared to enter technical negotiations with Ukraine next month. Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov said the next round could be held in Abu Dhabi and would focus on “building the security system for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the war.”
Ushakov also said Putin discussed a possible trilateral summit with Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, adding that Beijing is already preparing for the meeting. Moscow has proposed a three-way gathering on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, scheduled for November 18-19, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Kremlin is clearly hoping for an arrangement that would produce an end-of-war deal shaped to suit Russian interests.
The proposed format would exclude Ukraine and the European Union. Analysts say the Kremlin wants a setting that treats Russia as an equal partner with the United States and China, while pushing the actual victims and neighboring stakeholders out of the process. Carnegie-Russia Eurasia Center researcher Temur Umarov told DW that Beijing would likely serve as a symbolic participant rather than an active mediator, adding that “Beijing has no intention of taking responsibility for Ukraine's future.”
Umarov said China would likely push for vague, non-committal language in any joint statement so it can keep its own policy options open. By contrast, Mercator Institute for China Studies senior associate researcher Yurii Poita argued that Russia and China share strategic goals, including reducing Western military presence in Europe and Asia and weakening NATO’s influence. He said a joint effort could pressure the United States to cut military aid to Ukraine, a result that would benefit both Moscow and Beijing.
Kennan Institute director Michael Kimmage expressed skepticism that China will take on a more active diplomatic role, saying Beijing may see the conflict as destabilising but still prioritises the political survival of Vladimir Putin. Kimmage said Russia gives China cheap energy and a foreign-policy partner that rarely opposes Beijing’s interests.
Kyiv’s exclusion from the summit has drawn criticism from Ukrainian officials. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Oslo on October 20 that any talks about Ukraine’s future must include a Ukrainian seat at the table.
Analysts disagree on what excluding Europe would mean. Some view it as evidence that Beijing sees the EU as a weaker actor, while others argue that Europe’s financial and defense support for Ukraine still gives the bloc substantial leverage in any diplomatic outcome.