Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) meets with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in St. Petersburg on Wednesday (local time). Russia announced that the United States, Russia and China plan to hold a trilateral summit on the sidelines of next month's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. [Xinhua]
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) meets with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in St. Petersburg on Wednesday (local time). Russia announced that the United States, Russia and China plan to hold a trilateral summit on the sidelines of next month's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. [Xinhua]

Russia's Kremlin said Wednesday (local time) it is preparing a trilateral summit among the leaders of the United States, China and Russia on the sidelines of next month's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China.

According to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that "the Chinese side is working on preparations," formally confirming the push for a three-way meeting. He added that "the goal is to include a trilateral meeting during APEC," while cautioning that "a single trilateral meeting will not be enough to resolve the Ukraine crisis."

Also Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held about three hours of talks with US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and released an American detained in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. Ushakov said "the implementation of the diesel trade between the two countries formed an important part" of the Putin-Witkoff meeting.

At the talks, Witkoff expressed gratitude to Putin for the so-called "diesel deal," under which Russia agreed to supply oil to the United States and world markets. He also said "economic relations between the two countries could develop after the Ukraine conflict ends."

Under the deal, an oil tanker carrying 40,000 tons of Russian diesel set sail for the United States on Thursday. According to the Kremlin, Putin signaled interest in restoring economic cooperation, saying Russia "can supply more fertilizer to the United States."

Ushakov said the two men "discussed in detail the possibility of pursuing large-scale economic projects between the two countries," adding that several projects were close to being realized. Witkoff said energy projects and AI data center construction were among the initiatives under discussion.

The Kremlin in effect rejected the peace proposal Witkoff presented, saying it "lacked substantive content." Ushakov said the US side "detected subtle shifts in the positions of the EU and NATO at the Oslo talks in Norway, but those shifts did not fully satisfy us."

The Kremlin said it was "in principle ready to resume US-brokered trilateral peace negotiations in mid-November," agreeing to restart ceasefire talks among the United States, Russia and Ukraine. It added that Abu Dhabi in the UAE could serve as the venue for the trilateral negotiations.

Meanwhile, four civilians were killed overnight in Russian attacks, according to Ukrainian regional authorities. Russia's Ministry of National Defense confirmed strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, including power substations, and on vessels at the port of Odessa. Donald Trump had pressed both sides to halt strikes on energy infrastructure — an "energy truce" — after announcing the diesel deal with Russia, but Russia has continued attacking Ukraine's energy facilities.

Ukrainian authorities contend that the United States is pressuring Ukraine by delaying approval of Patriot interceptor missile support and restricting intelligence sharing on Russian ballistic missile strikes. Starlink services essential to Ukraine's drone operations have also been degraded. On Tuesday (local time), the Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, personally ordered the throttling of Starlink speeds.


kate01@heraldcorp.com