Ukraine

Kiev, October 19, 2026. Kyiv Post, Ukrainska Pravda, and Ukrinform are reporting on a scoop from the Wall Street Journal: Vladimir Putin proposed to Donald Trump, during a call on October 9, a meeting with Xi Jinping to discuss the end of the war "on terms favorable to Moscow". The proposed location would be on the sidelines of the APEC summit, scheduled for November 18 and 19 in Shenzhen. The American daily notes that such a summit, without Volodymyr Zelensky, would be "unprecedented" and would "set off alarm bells" in European capitals.

Ukrainian media is emphasizing the partial denials. Dmitri Peskov acknowledges that the subject of a hypothetical meeting was mentioned, but claims that no concrete proposal or agreement was discussed. Beijing, through the voice of Mao Ning, says it has "not yet" any information to provide. A high-ranking American official indicates that Trump has not accepted, while possibly being open to it in the name of his promise to put an end to the war. Marco Rubio, visiting Uzbekistan, confirms: "There's been talks of a meeting", without knowing if it's finalized.

The official Ukrainian response comes from Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on X. A three-way meeting between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia could hasten peace, he says; a meeting between Russia, China, and the United States would do "the exact opposite" by encouraging Putin. He recalls that the Russian economy is at least thirteen times smaller than the American one and eight times smaller than the Chinese one, and sees only one way to access the table: accepting a ceasefire before any meeting, while Russia intensifies its strikes against civilians.

The context weighs heavily in the reading: Kyiv Post links the proposal to the agreement on the call of October 9 on the purchase of Russian diesel and the easing of sanctions. Ukrinform recalls that, with American agreement, Russia will immediately supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the global market. A former Russian intelligence official cited by the WSJ presents the idea as a Yalta-type conference to divide spheres of influence, a formula that Kyiv Post links to a Kremlin plan revealed by the Financial Times in February 2025.

Rubio also assures that Ukraine and Russia should focus on ending their war and mentions a risk of escalation towards a neighboring country. Kiev, for its part, reads the whole thing as a sign of stature being offered to Putin while negotiations are moving forward without his presence.