US leader Donald Trump personally urged President Xi Jinping to help end the Ukraine war, as he sought to lean on Beijing’s sway over Moscow to resolve a conflict that is now in its fifth year, multiple sources have said.
According to people familiar with the discussions at last month’s leaders’ summit in Beijing, Trump told Xi that Russia-Ukraine negotiations were stalled and pressed him to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin back to the table to negotiate with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to the table.
Trump’s call reflected a clear need for Washington to bring Beijing into its efforts to end a war that the US leader made a centrepiece of his foreign policy agenda on his return to the White House last year, they said.
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The summit took place at a time of rare battlefield progress for Ukraine, which regained more ground in recent months than it had ceded in years. A senior Ukrainian commander told Reuters last week that the Russian army was exhausted and incapable of making breakthroughs.
Russia last month launched a massive strike on Ukraine, deploying 600 drones and 90 missiles, including the nuclear-capable Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile, while vowing further attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
Negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv have largely collapsed since their direct talks in Istanbul in July 2025 ended without a ceasefire agreement. Trump has been pressuring Zelensky to reach a deal with Russia, telling him in March to “get on the ball”.