Dmitry Peskov, a top spokesman for Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, declined to comment on Wednesday regarding the potential for President Donald Trump to be in China at the same time as Putin – and perhaps meet for the second time this month.
Putin has already confirmed a visit to Beijing for, among other engagements, a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the 80th anniversary of Japanese surrender in World War II. He is expected to hold extended discussions with genocidal communist dictator Xi Jinping while the latter hosts him, including potential discussions on his recent meeting with Trump. The Russian leader traveled to Anchorage, Alaska, for a brief meeting with Putin on August 15 in which the two discussed the frayed relations between Washington and Moscow as well as Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The two described the engagement as productive and positive, though no changes on the battlefield in Ukraine have occurred since.
Trump and Xi, meanwhile, last spoke in June; according to the White House, both leaders invited each other to their respective countries. Multiple reports indicate that Trump anticipates visiting China before the end of the year, though few suggest that he may be making the reported surprise trip to Beijing next week.
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) hold a meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on August 15, 2025 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Asked about a potential meeting with Trump, Peskov suggested on Wednesday that reporters instead ask the White House.
“You should probably ask my colleague (White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt – TASS) about Trump’s plans,” Peskov said, according to a translation by the Russian news agency TASS. “It is well known that Putin plans to visit China. We are preparing for this visit; the president is preparing for it.”
Peskov otherwise confirmed that Moscow is in continuous communication with the White House, though not necessarily regarding China; he also confirmed Putin’s scheduled travel to China from August 31 to September 3.
As for Putin’s schedule in China, Peskov teased that it would be a “completely unprecedented” visit unlike those prior, without elaborating, and confirmed Putin and Xi will have time to meet privately separate from their engagements at the SCO and the World War II events.
The Kremlin spokesman most recently addressed rumors of a surprise Trump appearance in July, stating that he could not categorically dismiss the possibility of an in-person meeting between the Russian and American leaders.
“If it so happens that the U.S. president decides to visit China during those days, then of course such a meeting cannot, in theory, be ruled out,” he suggested at the time.
The brief meeting Trump and Putin held in Alaska featured an impressive display of American military technology, including a dramatic moment in which an American B-2 stealth bomber flew directly over the Russian leader.
The conversation, Trump claimed after, was “extremely productive,” though he cautioned, “there’s no deal until there is a deal.”
Russian officials have since been reticent to consider various provisions for a negotiated peace in Ukraine. Most recently, on Wednesday, Peskov rejected the idea of European military assets providing security guarantees for Ukraine to prevent another invasion. Russia has been invading and colonizing Ukrainian territory since 2014, when it seized the country’s Crimean Peninsula.
“The expansion of NATO military infrastructure and its infiltration into Ukraine has become one of the root causes of the current conflict. That’s why we view such discussions negatively,” Peskov claimed.
Russian officials have floated the possibility of Chinese forces offering such “security guarantees” instead, but Beijing has aggressively rejected the idea.
The possibility of a Trump visit to China in 2025 arose following a phone call between the two leaders in June.
“He invited me to China and I invited him here,” Trump told reporters following the phone call. “We both accepted, so I will be going there with the first lady at a certain point and he will be coming here hopefully with the first lady of China.”
Trump reiterated in July that such a visit was “not too distant,” but days later published a statement on his website, Truth Social, denying having any passion for visiting China.
“I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest!,” Trump wrote.
Trump later suggested in August that a meeting with Xi, either in America or China, was “most likely” by the end of the year if trade negotiations with Beijing bear fruit. China, like most other American trade partners, has spent much of the year negotiating with the United States to recalibrate the trade relationship after President Trump announced tariffs intended to improve the global atmosphere for American exporters. Trump has pushed back the deadline to negotiate a deal with Beijing through November.
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On Monday, Trump suggested to reporters that the Chinese government would have to make its rare-earth mineral magnets available at much more favorable prices and larger volumes to secure a trade deal.
“They have to give us magnets, if they don’t give us magnets, then we have to charge them 200% tariffs or something,” Trump said during a meeting with visiting South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. “200 of their planes were unable to fly because we were not giving them Boeing parts purposely because they weren’t giving us magnets.”
China produces about 90 percent of the world’s rare-earth magnets.
The South China Morning Post, citing anonymous sources, reported in late July that Trump was “keen to visit China” by the end of the year. It floated the possibility of a visit in September to coincide with the World War II anniversary as distant, at best.
“US President Donald Trump is keen to visit China but a September visit is not happening, according to sources, who said Beijing and Washington were working to secure a trip in October or November,” the newspaper claimed.
The Morning Post stated that a likely occasion for Trump to. visit would be during his journey to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in October.
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