How the Trump–Putin meeting will end: Expert says there is only one possible scenario

Talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska will not yield results in terms of peace in Ukraine.

That is the opinion expressed by Valeriy Chalyi, chairman of the board of the Ukraine Crisis Media Center and former Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, speaking on Ukrainian Radio.

According to the former ambassador, the Trump–Putin meeting will end with some bilateral interests of both.

“The negotiation process is not ready. The Americans jumped ahead, the Europeans have clearly stated their position in our support, and I think all this will end only with bilateral interests, even some personal ones, of Putin and Trump,” the diplomat says.

“Now we will hear many words, but we have our own negotiation position, supported by the Europeans, and the plans have not changed. Until the meeting of the U.S. and Chinese leaders, who may influence Russia, nothing will happen. Therefore, Ukraine’s position must be strengthened,” Chalyi stresses, explaining that he meant long-range strikes on targets in Russia.

According to him, the U.S. President hopes that the Russian dictator will give him a “gift” in the form of a temporary ceasefire. This way Trump could claim to have achieved goals in Ukraine and “leave the game.”

“But we understand that this decision brings nothing in terms of bringing peace closer, there is no talk of peace, and I expect that there will be only one scenario — this meeting will lead to nothing, except the obvious legitimization of a war criminal,” Chalyi stressed.

He noted that for the first time since 2015, Putin will visit U.S. territory, and now Trump is creating conditions for him to come out of isolation. The Russian delegation will also include other sanctioned individuals, for whom the meeting in Alaska will be a chance to get rid of personal sanctions and unblock their property and accounts in the United States.

“I do not expect greater results than Trump achieving his own personal goals, which we do not even know about. There is only some talk about Trump’s motives for seeking this bilateral meeting with Putin one-on-one. I do not currently see any other options for this conversation to move to a summit to discuss peace issues. This is not about a just and honest peace, but about something else entirely,” the former Ukrainian ambassador to the United States says.

In his assessment, for now Russian diplomats are “outplaying” the U.S. leader’s team.

“Donald Trump personally has never won any meeting with Putin… For us this will be obvious, everyone will see Trump’s defeat. But whether he will admit that it is his defeat, I do not know. We will see,” Chalyi says.