Ukraine wants to hold a meeting of technical teams with the United States and Russia before the Russian, American and Chinese leaders meet in a trilateral format. President Volodymyr Zelensky said this at a meeting with journalists on 27 October.
He believes this meeting is needed most of all by Vladimir Putin. Least of all by China’s leader, Xi Jinping.
“What China, Russia and America might talk about has not been clearly defined at this stage. They will certainly talk about the Middle East. They will certainly talk about Ukraine. We very much do not want this to be a ‘Yalta 2, 3, 4’, where influence is being redistributed,” Volodymyr Zelensky commented.
He believes it is currently impossible to divide up the world between three countries.
“Although Russia very much wants to. I would draw attention to who wants this meeting most of all. I believe that after Alaska this would be Russia’s second such serious diplomatic advantage, if everything happens exactly as the Russians are now ‘floating’ in terms of their desire for a new ‘Yalta’,” the President of Ukraine added.
Context
Vladimir Putin proposed to Donald Trump holding a trilateral meeting with the Chinese leader during a phone call on 9 October. The same call after which the US president unexpectedly announced a easing of oil sanctions against Russia and a deal to buy more than one million tonnes of diesel from it.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the aim of the summit is to discuss ending the war in Ukraine on terms favourable to Russia. Neither Volodymyr Zelensky nor European representatives have been offered a place at the summit.
Trump backed the idea of such a summit. The meeting could take place in China.