Vladimir Putin has floated a summit with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to discuss Ukraine's future, according to a new Wall Street Journal report. The proposed lineup leaves out the leader whose country is being invaded: Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The idea arrives as Kyiv is trying to keep Washington engaged in negotiations involving Ukraine, while Trump eases pressure on Moscow. It raises an immediate question for the peace effort: would the next major discussion include Ukraine, or leave three other powers talking about its fate?

A proposal, with no settled meeting

The Journal reported the initiative on October 18, describing Putin as trying to capitalize on warming relations with Trump to secure a favorable resolution to Russia's war with Kyiv. The report presents it as a floated summit, rather than an agreed negotiation or a completed deal.

A three-leader meeting has been under public discussion for weeks. The next Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, scheduled for November 18-19 in Shenzhen, offers a possible setting because China is hosting.

But the arrangements remain a separate question from the idea. On October 14, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a Putin-Trump meeting on the sidelines had not been agreed, according to Interfax. He also said the three leaders' schedules and a possible agenda were not yet clear, though Moscow considered such talks useful.

Earlier, on October 6, Putin's foreign-policy aide Yuri Ushakov said only the host, Xi, could initiate the trilateral meeting at APEC. Those earlier statements establish the diplomatic groundwork; they do not settle the format of the new proposal reported by the Journal.

Kyiv is pursuing its own seat at the table

Zelenskyy spoke with Trump's envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner on October 18. Ukraine's presidential office said they discussed a meeting between Ukrainian and American teams in Florida and preparations for the next diplomatic steps.

The Ukrainian leader put the importance of Washington's position plainly:

A lot here depends precisely on America’s position. Ukraine remains ready to work constructively, honestly, and toward a real result. I thank everyone in America who supports Ukraine and this particular approach.

That conversation was part of Ukraine's existing diplomatic work. The official readout does not present it as a response to the Journal's subsequent report.

Two very different three-way talks

There is another proposed trilateral format in circulation, and its membership matters: Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy.

In remarks reported on October 18 by ANI, Zelenskyy said Washington was working on that kind of meeting. Possible venues included the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Europe or the United States during the G20 summit. He said confirmation from Russia and the United States was still pending.

That would put Ukraine inside the negotiation. A Putin-Trump-Xi meeting would give China a place in the room instead. Calling both formats three-way talks can hide the most consequential difference between them.

Kyiv's broader position was clear in its October 18 readout:

Peace comes only through strength and cooperation built on trust. We are doing everything on our part to make this happen, and to ensure that America’s position is strong and helps bring peace closer.

Washington's leverage is already changing

The dispute is playing out alongside concrete changes in American policy. As previously reported by Apex, Trump waived new duties authorized under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, including potential tariffs of up to 500% on Russian goods.

For Kyiv, Washington's choices affect how much pressure Moscow faces while negotiations continue. For Putin, a meeting with Trump and Xi would provide another channel to pursue the favorable settlement described in the Journal's report.

The proposal still has to become an actual meeting. Even then, convening three powerful leaders would leave the central problem intact: getting Ukraine to accept an outcome about its own territory and security.