The US president has been fluid on what the meeting in Alaska on Friday can really achieve.
The « if » was doing some heavy lifting.
Mr Trump floated the idea of a second meeting, this one between Putin, Zelenskyy and possibly himself, « if » the Alaska summit goes well.
Speaking to European leaders earlier, in a virtual call he rated at « 10 » and « very friendly », he’d shared his intention to try to broker a ceasefire on Friday.
So, the strategy is crystallising – he will press for a trilateral meeting to discuss territory « if » he manages to secure a truce during the bilateral meeting.
But that begs the obvious question: what if he can’t?
The US president is keeping his options open – rating the chance of a second meeting as « very good » but preparing the ground for failure too.
