Vladimir Putin is floating a three-way meeting with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to discuss ending the Ukraine war — while leaving Volodymyr Zelensky out of the room.
Vladimir Putin has proposed a summit about the future of Ukraine with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. The person notably missing from the guest list is the president of Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Putin has floated a three-way meeting with Trump and Xi that could take place around November’s APEC summit in China. Kremlin officials say the idea is under discussion, but no final meeting or agenda has been agreed.
Putin reportedly views the concept through the lens of a modern Yalta Conference, the 1945 meeting where the leaders of the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union helped shape the postwar order in Europe. That comparison is exactly why the proposal is setting off alarms in Kyiv and European capitals.
The original Yalta involved major powers negotiating the fate of countries whose own leaders had limited influence over the process. Doing a 2026 reboot about Ukraine without Ukraine is not subtle diplomacy. It is geopolitics with the host country removed from the group chat.
Trump has not agreed to the summit. The White House has been exploring ways to end the war, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has acknowledged ongoing discussions, but there is no public commitment to Putin’s proposed format.
Zelensky’s exclusion would be the central political problem. Ukraine has repeatedly argued that no lasting peace can be negotiated over its head and that any agreement involving territory or security guarantees must include Kyiv directly.
Putin’s incentives are obvious. A summit that places Russia, the United States and China at the center of negotiations would elevate Moscow’s status and reinforce Putin’s preferred argument that the war is ultimately about great-power competition rather than Ukraine’s sovereignty.
China would also gain stature from hosting or participating in such a meeting. Xi has tried to position Beijing as a global diplomatic broker while maintaining close ties with Moscow.
For Trump, the attraction is equally straightforward. He has repeatedly said he can end the war and has made deal-making with Putin a central part of that pitch.
The risk is that a dramatic summit creates the appearance of progress while accepting Putin’s preferred frame before negotiations even begin. If the three most powerful men at the table are discussing what Ukraine should give up and Ukraine is not there, that is not exactly neutral seating.
European officials are also wary of any Yalta comparison because the historical reference carries a very specific implication: powerful countries dividing up security arrangements for smaller ones.
The Kremlin has tried to keep expectations vague, describing the idea as preliminary and hypothetical. That gives Putin the benefit of generating headlines and diplomatic pressure without committing to details.
Trump could reject the format, insist on Zelensky’s participation or pursue a completely different meeting. None of that has been resolved.
But the proposal itself is revealing. Putin is not merely suggesting another peace conference. He is suggesting a room where the biggest powers decide the future — and the country actually being invaded waits outside.
