US President Donald Trump Seeks Help From China’s Xi Jinping To End Ukraine War.

Beijing/Washington DC; June 2026: US President Donald Trump personally urged President Xi Jinping to help end the Ukraine war, seeking to leverage Beijing’s influence over Moscow to resolve a conflict now in its fifth year. Donald Trump is said to have urged the Chinese President during his recent visit to China last month. During the summit in Beijing, Trump told Xi that despite several discussions with President Vladimir Putin including the much hyped Alaska Summit on 15th August last year (2025) the impasse still persists. 

Russia-Ukraine negotiations are stalled, and President Trump had pressed President Jinping to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin back to the table to negotiate with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. The call reflected Washington’s clear need to involve Beijing in its efforts to end the war, a conflict that Trump made a centrepiece of his foreign policy agenda upon returning to the White House last year.

The China-US summit took place at a time of rare battlefield progress for Ukraine, which has 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.

During the preparation of this report, Russia has launched a wave of aerial attacks across Ukraine (01st & 02nd June) killing several, alongside injuries thousands. Moreover, last month (May 2026) Russia had 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 capital, Kyiv.

Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have largely collapsed since direct talks in Turkey in July 2025 ended without a ceasefire agreement. Trump has been pressuring Zelensky to reach a deal, telling him in March to “get on the ball”.

Trump has said little publicly about his discussions on the conflict with Xi, confirming only that the issue was raised and that “it’s one that we’d like to see settled”. A fact sheet of the summit released by the White House did not mention the Ukrainian-Russian war. The Chinese read-out stated only that the two presidents traded views on the crisis in Ukraine among other major global issues.

China has deepened its ties with Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, becoming Russia’s key economic and diplomatic lifeline. China has not publicly condemned the 2022 Russian invasion, which was widely criticised by the European Union and the United States. The China-Russia relationship also has come under close scrutiny, with China accused of helping to sustain Russia’s war effort. This includes allegations that China supplies dual-use goods to Russia – claims China has repeatedly denied, insisting it enforces strict controls on such exports and that its trade with Russia remains normal.

Days after Trump’s departure, Xi hosted Putin in Beijing, signing a joint declaration in which Russia welcomed China’s desire to play a “constructive role in resolving the Ukrainian crisis through political and diplomatic means”.

Trade and investment dominated the agenda while Taiwan and Iran took precedence over the war in Ukraine in the rest of the discussions, they added.

Rare earths also featured in the talks. The sources said US remained unsatisfied with Beijing’s export controls on the critical minerals, with expectations there would be further negotiations between Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

China last year have imposed sweeping export controls on rare earth minerals, vital components for semiconductors and defence systems, and then partially suspended some of them as part of a trade truce reached by Trump and Xi in Busan, South Korea, in October.

According to the May 17th White House fact sheet: “China will address US concerns regarding supply chain shortages related to rare earths and other critical minerals”.

Team Maverick.