Thursday 29 / October / 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that a planned meeting between Russia, China and the United States next month could present the three participants with an opportunity to redraw global spheres of influence.
"We really don't want this to turn into 'Yalta 2, 3, 4' with a redistribution of influence," he said in comments to journalists on Wednesday, referring to the 1945 Yalta Conference in Crimea , where Allied powers redrew the world map in the wake of the Second World War.
Putin raised idea of three-way summit with Trump: What to know
The Kremlin has previously indicated that preparations were underway for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US and Chinese counterparts, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit next month.
The Wall Street Journal first broke the news about the three-way summit earlier this month and said that Trump had not agreed to attend the summit at the time.
But the Journal said Trump was open to the proposal — that had been raised by Putin — since he wanted to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
"What China, Russia and the United States might discuss has not yet been clearly defined," Zelenskyy said, adding that "Russia wants this meeting more than anyone," warning against handing Moscow "another major diplomatic advantage."
For years now, Russia has been seeking a new agreement with Washington on European security architecture, and in particular an end to what Putin considers NATO's aggressive expansion towards Russia.
Putin has falsely repeatedly said Ukraine war was an act of self-defense
Putin continues to cast the ongoing invasion of Ukraine as a response to such a NATO threat – a position widely rejected in Kyiv and the rest of Europe.
Zelenskyy's warning came ahead of planned talks between Ukrainian, Russian and US envoys in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next month.
No specific date has been set for the Abu Dhabi meeting, but Kyiv is keen for it to take place before the potential Russia-China-US summit.
Before that, it was also confirmed on Wednesday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to the United States for a meeting with G20 counterparts in Atlanta on October 30-31.
