US President Donald Trump denied reports that Beijing leader Xi Jinping told him Russian leader Vladimir Putin regrets invading Ukraine during Trump’s recent visit to China.
“No. He never said that,” Trump told reporters outside the White House, according to footage shared by Clash Report.
Trump’s denial followed those from Beijing earlier in the day, when Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun dismissed the claim by calling it “completely false” while responding to a question from Bloomberg during a briefing on Tuesday.
“We have released information on the China-US summit,” Guo said. “What you just cited is completely false.”
The remarks followed a report citing sources familiar with discussions held during Trump’s visit to Beijing last week.
The Financial Times (FT), citing its sources, said Xi told Trump during wide-ranging talks on Ukraine and global security that Putin might eventually “regret” invading Ukraine.
The report also said discussions allegedly included a proposal by Trump to have China, Russia, and the US cooperate against the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The denial came as Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a two-day visit expected to focus on energy, trade and geopolitical cooperation.
The Kremlin said Putin’s delegation will include senior ministers, officials and major business leaders.