China proposes Putin-Trump summit to end Ukraine war – report

According informed sources, China has put forward a suggestion for a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump to assist in concluding the Ukraine conflict.  In recent weeks, Chinese officials have suggested to the Trump team via intermediaries a meeting between the two leaders to promote peacekeeping efforts following a potential truce, according to individuals in Beijing and Washington mentioned by the newspaper.

When questioned about the newspaper article during a routine news conference on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry stated he had “no information to provide.” Trump stated that both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy showed an interest in peace during individual phone conversations with him on Wednesday, and he commanded senior U.S. officials to initiate discussions aimed at concluding the conflict in Ukraine.

The Kremlin announced that Putin and Trump had reached an agreement to meet, with Putin extending an invitation for Trump to come to Moscow. Trump indicated that their initial meeting would “likely” occur soon in Saudi Arabia.

“China is happy to see Russia and the United States strengthen communication on a series of international issues,” said Guo Jiakun, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson. “Russia and the United States are both influential major countries. No Ukraine peace talks have been held since the early months of the conflict, now approaching its third anniversary. Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, had no direct contact with Putin after Russia’s invasion.

“China has always believed that dialogue and negotiation are the only viable way to resolve the crisis and has always insisted on promoting peace and dialogue,” Guo said. “China supports all efforts conducive to a peaceful resolution of the crisis, and will continue to maintain communication with relevant parties and continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political solution to the crisis.”

The West has persistently encouraged China to leverage its close ties with Russia to assist in bringing the war to a close. Beijing claimed it was not involved in the crisis but had been continually advocating for peace negotiations on its own conditions.  Last year, in a peace initiative, China, in collaboration with Brazil, suggested an international peace conference “at an appropriate time” and advocated for equal involvement of both Ukraine and Russia.

Russia occupies roughly one-fifth of Ukraine and has insisted that Kyiv relinquish additional territory and maintain a permanently neutral status in any peace agreement. Ukraine insists that Russia retreat from occupied lands and states that Kyiv needs NATO membership or similar security assurances to avert further assaults from Moscow.