Zelenskyy warns summit must not become “Yalta 2, 3, 4”
Australia has endorsed this week’s planned three-way summit between Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcoming the talks taking place even as European leaders warned the US president must not make major concessions over the war in Ukraine. The summit is planned to take place in Shenzhen, where the leaders will gather for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting.
Albanese, in the Philippines before a meeting of Quad leaders and talks with south-east Asian leaders at the Asean summit, spoke in Manila on Sunday and insisted the clear message to Putin was that the war should end. “We think that dialogue is a good thing and we await the outcome of that dialogue,” he said.
“It’s obviously quite significant, the fact that President Trump will be at Asean as well as at Apec, and that we’ll have a Quad leaders meeting as well,” Albanese said. “We want to see something constructive come out of that, including we want to see a de-escalation in the conflicts around the world.”
The trilateral summit was organised after a proposal by Putin last month. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has warned that the talks must not lead to a redistribution of influence among world powers or the abandonment of his country, more than four years into the war sparked by Putin’s full-scale invasion, and has said the meeting must not turn into “Yalta 2, 3, 4” — invoking the 1945 conference at Yalta in Crimea, when the then US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, Britain’s Winston Churchill and the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin carved up influence across war-ravaged Europe.
The historian Timothy Garton Ash has called the trilateral summit “a sort of parody” of Yalta, even as analysts say decisions on the future of Ukraine or China’s ambitions to take control of Taiwan without their involvement are unlikely.
Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, expressed hesitation about the talks at a meeting of EU leaders on Friday. “I want to state our message to the US very clearly once again: please, no surprises,” he said. “Stay on Team Europe and Team Ukraine, and let us work together for a genuine peace in Ukraine.”
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, warned against forcing “an unjust peace” on Ukraine and, by extension, all of Europe. “That is the spirit of defeat,” Macron said. “That is a recipe for another war.”
Albanese said the summit would not undercut a growing push by countries including Australia and Canada for middle powers to have greater influence in world affairs. “We’ll continue to engage with like-minded countries,” he said. “There are two super powers in the world.”
“What’s important about the struggle of the people of Ukraine is that they’re not just standing up for their own sovereignty; they’re standing up for the international rule of law,” Albanese said.
Asked if he would join the so-called “family photo” of Apec leaders if Putin took part, Albanese said he would consider the wishes of China as the host nation, but added that the Russian president should know Australia’s opposition to the invasion. “If he’s in a room where I am, I’m sure they’ll hear my contribution,” Albanese said.
A group photo was avoided after the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, when Australia’s Penny Wong joined with European and Canadian counterparts to stay out of the picture. That photo was cancelled by US officials when a third of participants declined to stand alongside the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
Albanese signed a new defence agreement with the Philippines on Sunday, visiting the supply ship HMAS Stalwart in the Port of Manila. Australia is helping to strengthen the Philippines’ defensive capability, and more freedom-of-navigation naval exercises are planned in an attempt to counter Beijing’s efforts to influence the South and East China seas.