China suggested that the US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin hold a meeting to negotiate the war in Ukraine without the participation of Volodymyr Zelensky.
This is reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing its own sources.
According to the publication, unnamed Chinese officials have been passing on the proposal to the Trump administration through intermediaries “in recent weeks”. However, the idea has been met with skepticism in the United States and Europe, due to Beijing’s close ties with Moscow.
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the US said he was unaware of any such proposal from Beijing. He said: “We hope that the parties will work to de-escalate and seek a political settlement.” The White House did not comment on the WSJ report.
On February 12, Trump called Putin and then Zelensky. After that, Trump announced that he was starting negotiations to end the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Trump suggested he might meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia. The exact date is unknown, but the meeting could take place in the “near future”. Trump also made it clear that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would be involved in the talks.
When asked whether Volodymyr Zelensky would be present at the first meeting on Ukraine, Trump made it clear that the Ukrainian leader would likely not be there: "Weʼll probably have the first meeting, and then weʼll see what we can do with the second one."
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