Putin wants summit with Xi, Trump to be redux of Yalta, which divided up world after WWII: report

Russian President Vladimir Putin is pushing for a trilateral meeting with President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine — but he’s got even bigger ambitions.He wants a re-run of the 1945 Yalta Summit, which divided up the world after WWII, according to a report.Putin first floated the idea during an Oct.9 call with Trump, with the Kremlin trying to get a meeting to happen in the background of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China next month, the Wall Street Journal reported.The goal is to get a peace deal that will favor the Kremlin, but also for Russia, China and the US to establish spheres of influence around the world, a former Moscow intelligence officer with knowledge of the talks told the Journal.That ambition appears to harken back to the the post-World War II Yalta summit — which took place in Ukraine’s Crimea region — where President Franklin D.

Roosevelt, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill divided Europe into spheres of influence, cementing Moscow as a global superpower.Putin has long pined for the days of Russia’s past greatness, but a repeat of the summit is completely unrealistic, experts said.Under such a plan, Russia would likely assert itself in eastern Europe again, including NATO allies like Poland and Finland, with China also threatening American partners in the Pacific like Japan and South Korea.“The problem is that this set-up runs counter to American interests in Europe and the Pacific,” Seth Jones, president of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Post.“It also increases the possibility of World War III if Russia were to expand into NATO territory,” he said.Despite the challenges, Jones said Putin appears eager to capitalize on being back in Trump’s good graces — after the US president paused sanctions and set up a diesel deal with Moscow.The Russian push for diplo...