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.
