Putin Reportedly Floated a Meeting To Discuss the Future of the War. Zelenskyy Isn’t Included.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has floated a summit with U.S. and Chinese counterparts Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine, according to a new report.
The meeting, detailed by The Wall Street Journal, took place earlier this month during a call with Trump and would not include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It comes as his relationship with Trump deteriorates rapidly and could take place at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacted to the possibility, saying on Monday that “there’s been talks of a meeting.” “I don’t know whether it’s been finalized, but the president has been clear,” he added. “The president is open to anything that he can do to help bring a war to an end, if it’s possible, and we’ll continue to look for opportunities to do that.”
Trump has fiercely criticized Zelenskyy over the past days and demanded for Kyiv to stop attacks against Russian energy infrastructure. However, Ukrainian drones struck the St. Petersburg oil terminal and other targets during the weekend.
Elsewhere, the White House announced on Friday that it would be pausing the implementation of a significant package of sanctions which would have targeted Russia’s economy, energy exports, financial networks, government officials and countries who purchase large quantities of Russian oil and gas.
The Trump administration has also suspended sanctions on Russian diesel, called for Zelenskyy to be replaced, engaged in negotiations relating to the acquisition of the international assets of a Russian oil company by U.S. business interests, among other developments.
Zelenskyy has, for his part, stated on various occasions that he is willing to stop strikes on Russian energy facilities if such de-escalation is reciprocated, and Russia stops its own strikes on critical Ukrainian infrastructure. He has also criticized Trump’s latest actions, even agreeing with comments that he felt “betrayed” by the latest developments.
Russia has also been intensifying attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure as new restrictions on the U.S.-owned Starlink satellite network weaken Kyiv’s military capabilities.
Serhiy Derkach, Ukraine’s first deputy minister for recovery, infrastructure and transport, told CNBC that Moscow appears to view the limitations on Starlink as an opportunity to escalate its offensive, particularly against infrastructure essential to civilian life.
“With U.S. limiting the use of Starlinks on the battlefield, Russia feels that this is their moment to try and inflict even more pain and suffering on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure,” Derkach said.
