MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russian President 
Vladimir Putin has proposed a trilateral meeting next month with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the war in Ukraine and seek an end to the conflict on terms favorable to Moscow, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Putin raised the proposal during an Oct. 9 phone call with Trump, according to a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter, the newspaper said.
The call also resulted in an agreement for the U.S. to purchase Russian diesel fuel and facilitate its sale on the global market, the report said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that discussions were underway regarding a possible meeting.
“There is no clear understanding yet regarding the meeting itself or its potential agenda, although all three parties acknowledge the hypothetical possibility of such a meeting taking place,” he told the Journal.
A senior U.S. official said Trump had not agreed to the proposed summit but could be open to the idea, given his desire to fulfill his campaign pledge to end the war.
According to people familiar with the discussions, the Kremlin has proposed holding the trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, scheduled for Nov. 18-19 in Shenzhen, China.
Russian officials raised the proposal with Beijing through diplomatic channels, and China indicated that it would not oppose the idea if Trump agreed, according to people familiar with recent discussions between Moscow and Beijing.
The former Russian intelligence officer said Putin had previously proposed holding a trilateral summit with Trump and Xi on several occasions.
Trump recently reached a deal with Putin to buy Russian diesel fuel in an effort to lower fuel prices, which have weighed on the U.S. economy and hurt Republican prospects ahead of midterm elections.
On Friday, Trump also suspended the implementation of sanctions against Russia under a bipartisan bill he signed last month.