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President Donald Trump floated the idea of a second meeting, this time between Putin, Zelensky and himself, "if" the Alaska summit goes well.
Speaking earlier with European leaders, in a virtual call which he rated a "10" and "very friendly", he shared his intention to broker a ceasefire on Friday.
So, the strategy is crystallizing, he will insist on a trilateral meeting to discuss the territory "if" he manages to secure a ceasefire during the bilateral meeting.
But this raises the obvious question: what if he can't?
The US president is keeping his options open, describing the possibility of a second meeting as "very good," but also preparing the ground for failure.
"There may not be a second meeting because if I think it is not appropriate to hold it because I did not get the answers we need to have, then we will not have a second meeting ," he said.
Surprisingly, given how often he talks about his capabilities, he admitted that he might not convince Putin to stop targeting civilians.
But, without giving details of what the sanctions might be, he warned that Russia would face "very serious consequences" if it did not end the war.
Even if he achieves the seemingly impossible, stopping the fighting, there seems little chance of an agreement on any territorial exchange.
Zelensky has told Trump that Putin is "bluffing" and wants to move forward along the entire front, not turn over land.
Within a week, Trump has gone from talking about a land swap deal to a "listening exercise" on the potential for a ceasefire.
His expectations seem fluid, an indication of how fluid the behind-the-scenes negotiations are on the eve of his first face-to-face meeting with Putin in six years.
He described Friday's summit as "setting the table for a second meeting," but that is arrogance when the meal, or the deal, has not yet been cooked./ SkyNews
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