"The meeting between Putin and Trump is very important, but I am not sure that it will be decisive. Trump trusts Putin, he thinks he will do something, and Putin is just playing with him like a cat and a mouse. It is important for Putin that Trump and America are involved in the negotiation process". This was stated by Prof. Mikhail Stanchev, a lecturer at the University of Kharkiv.
According to the latest information, Trump and Putin will meet next week in Alaska.
According to Stanchev, Putin will not even discuss the captured territories in Ukraine because he considers them Russian. The maximum that Trump can do is negotiate concessions in the Nikolaev region and the road to Crimea.
"However, Russia will demand guarantees that there will be a land passage to Crimea," Stanchev said.
He added that Putin will insist that sanctions against Russia be lifted, as well as that military aid to Ukraine be terminated.
He believes that the situation after the meeting will be neither war nor peace.