Putin Wants 1945-Style Yalta Summit With Trump, Xi: Report

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to sit down with him for a three-way summit modeled on the 1945 Yalta Conference, according to the New York Post, citing a Wall Street Journal report. The idea surfaced during an Oct. 9 phone call between Putin and Trump, the Post reported.

What summit is Putin asking for?

The Kremlin is trying to arrange the meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China next month, according to the Post's account of the Journal report. The stated purpose is to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. But Putin's ambitions reportedly go further than a single cease-fire deal.

Why model it on Yalta?

The 1945 Yalta Conference took place in Ukraine's Crimea region, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill carved Europe into spheres of influence after World War II, cementing Moscow as a global power. Putin has "long pined for the days of Russia's past greatness," the Post reported, and sees a repeat as a way to restore that standing on the world stage.

What would the deal reportedly include?

A former Moscow intelligence officer with knowledge of the talks told the Journal that the goal is twofold: a peace settlement favorable to the Kremlin, and a broader arrangement in which Russia, China and the United States each claim their own sphere of influence around the globe, according to the Post. Under that kind of setup, Russia would likely reassert itself in Eastern Europe, including pressure on NATO members Poland and Finland, while China would extend its reach toward American partners in the Pacific such as Japan and South Korea, the Post reported.

What do experts say about the odds?

Experts told the Post that a genuine Yalta-style redo is not realistic. One analyst said the plan runs into a basic problem.

"The problem is that this set-up runs counter to American interests."

That tension — a carve-up that would hand Moscow and Beijing expanded influence at the expense of U.S. allies — is the core reason experts are skeptical Washington would sign on, according to the Post's reporting.

When might the three leaders meet?

No date has been confirmed. The Kremlin's target window remains the APEC summit in China next month, the Post reported, though it is unclear whether Trump or Xi have agreed to a trilateral format. The push comes as Russia continues battlefield losses in Ukraine, a factor the Post's summary says is driving Putin's urgency to lock in a deal now. Separately, the Post noted related reporting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his government received no advance warning before Russia struck the country's power grid again, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has pushed back on claims that the U.S. cut off intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

For now, the summit remains a Kremlin proposal relayed through diplomatic channels rather than a confirmed meeting on any leader's calendar, according to the Post's account of the Journal report.