What Xi, Trump and Putin might be thinking ahead of their possible summit

Le Monde English reports that columnist Sylvie Kauffmann is attempting to analyze the perspectives of the American, Russian, and Chinese presidents prior to a potential meeting of the three leaders in Shenzhen, China, next week.

Separately, a Rand Europe think tank report outlines a scenario for a potential war between Russia and NATO in 2030. In this projection, Vladimir Putin dies of natural causes in January 2027 without a named successor, leading to a Kremlin power struggle and the election of a former Federal Security Service general in March. This new president would agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine in exchange for partially lifting sanctions, though a full peace deal could stall by July 2027 as Russia maintains claims to occupied territories.

Following this, the Kremlin might redirect resources toward rebuilding its army and, by 2029, could develop plans for a limited military operation in the Baltic states using the suppression of protests in Narva as a pretext.

Brief written by urgent.news from Le Monde English, Meduza (English) — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.