Trump Open to Putin and Xi Talks Without Zelenskyy to End War. Donald Trump says he is willing to meet Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping without Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urging someone else to negotiate for Ukraine.
United States President Donald Trump has declared his willingness to engage in high-stakes trilateral discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping to address the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, signaling that he would attend such talks regardless of whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is present at the negotiating table. Speaking to reporters on the White House South Lawn on Monday prior to boarding Marine One for a trip to Kansas, Trump sharply criticized the Ukrainian leader's handling of the protracted war, suggesting that the leadership in Kyiv should step aside and permit a different diplomatic representative to lead negotiations aimed at securing an immediate peace accord with the Kremlin.
The American president emphasized his commitment to pursuing any possible diplomatic opening to halt the fighting in Eastern Europe, reiterating that ending the loss of life remains his overarching objective. Asked specifically by reporters whether he would sit down with Putin and Xi if Zelenskyy were excluded from the summit, Trump made clear that the composition of the delegation would not prevent him from holding talks. He insisted that he would do whatever is required to conclude the war, arguing that diplomatic progress must not be hindered by whether specific participants attend. At the same time, Trump argued that Russia had shown flexibility, expressing confidence that a broad international forum could address longstanding security fractures across the continent.
Trump’s comments arrive amid deepening public friction between the White House and Kyiv, fueled by diverging perspectives on how the conflict should be resolved and how sanctions policy should be executed. The tension flared after Zelenskyy recently argued that the Trump administration was placing itself on the wrong side of history by granting diplomatic and economic relief to Moscow, including a commercial diesel accord and administrative waivers easing certain export restrictions on Russian energy shipments. Pushing back forcefully against that characterization, Trump dismissed Zelenskyy’s criticisms, asserting that the Ukrainian president did not understand the broader strategic realities at play and arguing that an earlier negotiated settlement could have averted catastrophic casualties and preserved countless lives on the battlefield.
The proposal for a potential three-way leader summit was first floated publicly by President Putin, who suggested a gathering alongside Trump and Xi next month, potentially utilizing the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China as a diplomatic venue. While White House and State Department officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have confirmed that preliminary discussions surrounding such an engagement have occurred, the diplomatic encounter has not yet been formally scheduled or finalized on the executive calendar. For his part, Trump confirmed that he intends to travel to China in November and indicated that the bilateral and multilateral discussions would prioritize mutual denuclearization, nuclear non-proliferation, and bilateral trade relations alongside the Ukrainian territorial dispute.
Trump pointed out that a primary motivation for ongoing high-level dialogue with Moscow involves critical global security objectives that extend well beyond the immediate territorial dispute in Europe. The American president noted that active diplomatic channels with the Russian government remain essential for addressing sensitive geopolitical challenges, including efforts to de-escalate hostilities across the Middle East involving Iran, stabilizing volatile international energy markets, and advancing sensitive humanitarian exchanges to secure the release of American citizens currently detained inside the Russian Federation. Trump hinted that progress was being made on hostage release efforts, emphasizing that keeping open lines of communication with Russian leadership serves long-term American strategic and economic interests.
The growing estrangement between Washington and Kyiv reflects fundamentally different visions regarding the terms of a future peace settlement. While European allies and the Ukrainian administration maintain that no decisions regarding Ukraine’s sovereignty, borders, or governance should be made without Kyiv’s direct participation and consent, Trump’s willingness to hold great-power negotiations alongside Moscow and Beijing signals a return to classic realpolitik diplomacy. By openly questioning Zelenskyy’s negotiating posture and suggesting that Kyiv find new diplomatic representatives, the American president is applying intense public pressure on Ukraine to adopt a more pragmatic stance toward bilateral talks with Moscow.
Diplomatic observers note that any trilateral summit involving Washington, Moscow, and Beijing would represent a dramatic turning point in international relations, effectively creating a direct great-power forum to negotiate European security arrangements. With China maintaining strategic partnership ties with Russia and the United States balancing domestic economic concerns with global security commitments, the prospect of direct talks without Ukrainian representation raises significant questions for European security. As planning continues for the upcoming Asian diplomatic summits in November, the world will be watching closely to see whether Trump’s unconventional diplomatic approach can break the protracted battlefield stalemate or if it will widen rifts between the United States and its traditional Western allies.