US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he is likely to meet with the Russian and Chinese presidents next week to discuss ending the war with Iran.
Trump told reporters that he expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Asia-Pacific Summit scheduled to be held in Shenzhen, China, on November 18-19.
“Well, I will go to China, and I think one of the meetings will be with President Putin and President Xi, and that will be interesting,” he said, adding, “We will discuss many things, including denuclearization, but we will address many other issues.” “We seek to end the war in Iran.”
The Kremlin said on October 21 that this tripartite meeting, the first of its kind, was “being prepared.” This came after a report by the Wall Street Journal that Putin was seeking, through tripartite talks, to reach a peace agreement in Ukraine that would be in the interest of Moscow, which invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Trump's willingness to meet with Putin is further evidence of the efforts made by the US President to end the international isolation imposed on Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Sunday that progress had been made regarding the “security architecture” for Ukraine and Europe after the war between Moscow and Kiev, expecting more progress in the negotiations scheduled in Abu Dhabi this week.
Rubio made his statements before leaving for Paris to attend a meeting of G7 foreign ministers that coincides with US-sponsored Russian-Ukrainian talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, Rubio stressed that “obtaining security guarantees is a recurring demand in the discussions aimed at ending the conflict,” and he considered that the main question is “What will the security structure of Ukraine look like after the war, and for the European continent on a broader scale?” He continued, "This is what President (Donald) Trump is likely talking about, that is, the form this structure will take after the end of the conflict."
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump expected to reach a “very important” agreement with Russia that is not limited to the war in Ukraine, but includes “the entire Europe,” in statements that fueled fears of Ukraine and its European allies that they would be excluded from any future deal.
Marco Rubio confirmed on Sunday that “a final formula has not been reached yet,” noting that “the Abu Dhabi talks may result in progress.” Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is also his son-in-law, will represent the American side in the upcoming talks in Abu Dhabi.
On the other hand, the US Secretary of State said that Trump launched the war against Iran, even if it was not “necessarily popular,” in order to protect the world from this country’s nuclear ambitions.
He did not comment directly on the crushing defeat suffered by Republicans in last Tuesday's elections, which was a popular rebuke of Trump's policies. The unpopularity of the war on Iran and its impact on fuel prices and other aspects of the economy helped enable Democrats to control Congress.
Asked about Vice President J.D. Vance's social media post last week, in which he largely blamed the war for GOP losses, Rubio told reporters that Trump had "identified a very real threat" in Iran and worked to prevent it from pursuing a nuclear weapon.
The top US diplomat made a staunch defense of the more than eight-month-old war, even as voters blamed Trump's policies for damage to their budgets, including rising energy prices caused by disruptions to shipments in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil passed before the war.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that his proposal to appoint Dana White, president of the UFC Mixed Martial Arts Championship, as White House spokesman, was just a joke.
“I was just kidding, but Dana liked this idea,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac of the airport that bears his name in Florida. Trump wrote on his platform, “Truth Social,” on Saturday, “I am pleased to announce that the great Dana White, a fierce fighter and warrior, has been offered the position of spokesman,” explaining that White, 57 years old, has not accepted the position yet.
"Dana, please accept this position!" he added. The vacancy was filled with the departure of Katie Zacharia on October 16, less than a week after her appointment. Trump continued, “We need these people to defend us against the demented left,” days after his Republican Party suffered a resounding defeat against the Democratic opposition in the midterm elections.
The US President celebrated his eightieth birthday in June by hosting mixed martial arts fights at the White House, organized by the UFC Championship.
Dana White, with his shaved head and athletic build, appeared on stage on November 6, 2024, during Trump's presidential victory speech and his nomination ceremony at the Republican National Convention in July 2024.
White, a conservative and promoter of masculine ideas, who describes Trump as a friend, joined the board of directors of the “Mita” group in a move that was considered a reflection of the conservative shift of the group’s president, Mark Zuckerberg, who is fond of mixed martial arts.
