Australia welcomes Trump-Xi-Putin summit as European leaders voice concern
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has welcomed the planned meeting of the US, Chinese and Russian leaders in Shenzhen. European leaders and Ukraine's president warn that no major concessions should be made over the war in Ukraine.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday welcomed this week's planned summit between US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in China. The meeting is due to take place in Shenzhen during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. European leaders, meanwhile, warn that the US president must not give ground on the war in Ukraine, which has lasted more than four years since Russia's full-scale invasion.
Albanese: dialogue is a good thing
Speaking in Manila, ahead of a Quad leaders' meeting and talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Philippines, Albanese said dialogue was valuable and Australia awaited its outcome. He stressed that the clear message to Putin should be that the war must end. The prime minister did not rule out joining an APEC group photo with Putin if China, as host, wished it to go ahead. He added that Putin would hear Australia's position if they were in the same room.
Albanese also said the summit would not undercut the push by Australia, Canada and other countries for middle powers to have greater influence in world affairs. He said Ukrainians were defending not only their own sovereignty but also the international rule of law.
European concerns
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told an EU leaders' meeting on Friday that he wanted the US to bring no surprises and to stay on "Team Europe and Team Ukraine". French President Emmanuel Macron warned against forcing an unjust peace on Ukraine and all of Europe, calling it the spirit of defeat and a recipe for another war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has likened the summit to the 1945 Yalta conference and warned it must not lead to a redistribution of influence among world powers or the abandonment of his country. Historian Timothy Garton Ash has called the summit, organised after a proposal by Putin last month, "a sort of parody" of Yalta. Analysts say decisions on Ukraine's future, or on China's ambitions regarding Taiwan, are unlikely without the parties involved.
On Sunday Albanese also signed a new defence agreement with the Philippines in Manila.
