Description: Kremlin’s spokesperson. Dmitry Peskov, has publicly speculated that a potential Trump – Putin meeting could happen in September in China, when the country commemorates the 80th anniversary since the end of the Second World War. Peskov’s statements arrive as Russia launched another barrage of missiles and drone attacks in Ukraine and a day after Ukrainian President Zelenskyy suggested new round of peace talks. The meeting would curiously coincide with the last day of Trump’s 50 – day deadline imposed on Russia to reengage in the peace process. Trump threatened Putin with the imposition of additional sanctions and continued military support for Ukraine if Russia’s leader doesn’t agree to his terms. Peskov concluded that visiting Beijing was already part of Putin’s agenda while he had no information whether the US was invited to the ceremony.
Impact: The speculation around a potential leaders summit in September is Russia officially inviting the US to directly engage in addressing the conflict in Ukraine, while also developing a diplomatic opening to ease trade tensions between China and the US. The coincidence with the overlap of the 50 – day deadline and the ceremony in Beijing is the Kremlin’s way of indirectly communicating that Russia does not expect any new developments in the war until September or at least not until Putin and Trump have a one-on-one meeting. Trump and Xi have recently discussed trade over a phone call where the leaders also invited one another for official state visits to their respective countries. The US response to the speculation would largely be dependent on backchannel diplomatic efforts aimed at facilitating the meet as well as ongoing developments in both the war in Ukraine and the trade war between the US and China.