Trump, Putin to discuss Ukraine peace settlement during meeting in China, Kremlin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss "the full range of issues" regarding ending the war in Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump during their planned meeting at the APEC summit in China next week, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov claimed on Nov. 12.

Trump and Putin are scheduled to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18-19. Previously, Ushakov has said that the leaders may also hold trilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the conference.

"Naturally, during the planned meeting with (Trump) at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, we will continue to discuss the full range of issues related to the settlement (in Ukraine)," Ushakov told reporters, according to the Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti.

Ushakov's comments come a day after the latest round of U.S.-brokered peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine concluded in Abu Dhabi. The talks concluded with both sides agreeing to another prisoner exchange, but no major breakthrough was achieved.

U.S. representatives also said that Europe should play a direct role in negotiations — a move that Kyiv and its European partners have long advocated.

There will be no Ukrainian or European representation at the upcoming talks in China, however. The prospect of high-level negotiations on the war that exclude key partners while looping in Beijing has been met with skepticism.

"A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China, and the U.S. would do only ... encourage Putin to continue this war," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in October.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also said that Xi has no interest in hosting such a summit, after speaking with the Chinese leader himself.

Sybiha said a trilateral meeting with Trump, Putin, and President Volodymyr Zelensky would be a far more productive step towards peace. The Russian president has consistently refused to meet with Zelensky face-to-face in a neutral setting.

Kyiv has long maintained that there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine present. Zelensky has said that he will "never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia" are made without Ukraine's participation.