President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet in Alaska on Friday to discuss a potential resolution to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has lasted over three years.
Trump stated on Monday that he would be able to gauge Putin’s willingness to end the war, saying, “At the end of that meeting, probably the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made,” however, numerous foreign policy experts believe the chances of a resolution are slim.
Despite Ukraine’s clear stance on an unconditional ceasefire, there is increasing worry that Russia may not agree to a peace deal, as outlined by Starner’s last minute plea to Trump.
An insider revealed that if Putin proposes this, it would be “outright rejected” by Ukraine.
Daniel Hamilton, a foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution, warned of the need for “extreme caution is warranted about any Putin-Trump meeting, which is unlikely to produce anything remotely acceptable to Ukraine,” regarding any Putin-Trump meeting, which he believes is unlikely to produce anything remotely acceptable to Ukraine.
“Faced with Trump’s deadline, Putin is again playing for time, and is likely to use a meeting to sway Trump to Russian views,” he said. “The meeting could result in another delay in U.S. sanctions on Russia, and further hesitations by Trump to offer further support for Ukraine.”
Ryhor Nizhnikau, a Russia expert at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told the outlet that the meeting will only “delay the end of the war.
“Energy sanctions on China and India for buying Russia’s oil and, more importantly, substantially increasing military aid to Ukraine are the best available tools against Russia at the Western disposal,” he informed the Kyiv Independent.
“If Trump wants to use the summit with Putin to avoid keeping his word on the ultimatum (for Russia to agree on a ceasefire), that is bad news. It will only further embolden Moscow and Beijing to pursue their current course of action.”
He further stated that by agreeing to the meeting, Putin is merely attempting to buy more time for himself and for Trump, “potentially also making Trump a favour of finding a way to avoid fulfilling his ultimatum threats.
“I do not expect any breakthrough on the ceasefire,” he disclosed to the Kyiv Independent.
“There is the same major question to ask: has Putin’s stance on the war changed? The answer is no; nothing changed, and he wants to continue the war. Putin’s plan is to buy a bit more time and ideally again shift at least some blame back on Ukraine, which would permit him to avoid any serious harshening of the U.S. approach towards Russia.”
