Putin Reportedly Floats US-Russia-China Summit on Ukraine; Some Republicans Push Back

Russian President Vladimir Putin has floated a three-way summit of Russia, the United States and China to address the war in Ukraine, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter. Putin reportedly raised the idea in a phone call with President Donald Trump earlier this month. The meeting would bring together Trump, Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping but would not include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or Ukraine's European allies, which has caused alarm in Ukraine and European capitals. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov confirmed the pitch to the Journal and said all three parties were open to it. He said there is no clear understanding yet of the meeting or its agenda, though all three acknowledge it is hypothetically possible. Several Republicans in Congress have criticized the idea of Trump meeting Putin and Xi.

Left-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while alternative/independent and right-leaning outlets had. The Washington Examiner, on the right, leads with Putin's reported plan and China's role in the four-and-a-half-year war, citing the Journal and Peskov. The Hill, an alternative source, leads with strong Republican pushback in Congress against Trump's warming relationship with Putin.