European leaders hope to sway Trump on Ukraine during virtual meeting

One of the central issues for Europeans, Ian Bond told Euronews, is that Trump appears to be treating a possible peace deal in Ukraine "like a real estate transaction". "He does not understand that some of the territory in the east of Ukraine that Putin covets would be vital to Ukraine’s defence when (and it is ‘when’ not ‘if’) Russia resumes its aggression and tries to take more Ukrainian territory," the deputy director of the Centre for European Reform (CER) added.

..."So far, the coalition of the willing has not been particularly willing to act. Its focus has been on preparing to support a peace settlement that was never likely as long as Putin’s war aims were unchanged," Bond opined.

"But what Ukraine needs at present is a coalition willing to help it before the cessation of hostilities – to put enough pressure on Russian forces that Putin is incentivised to stop fighting and make concessions. There is no sign of such a coalition at present," he added.

...Their exchange will have been successful if Trump "stands up to Putin in Alaska, strengthens Zelenskyy’s position militarily, and joins the Europeans in increasing sanctions pressure on Russia," Bond said, cautioning however that "it seems unlikely that the meeting will achieve any of those outcomes" given recent comments from US officials.

"Maybe the best we can hope for is that Putin over-reaches so that even Trump finds it impossible to accept his proposals," he added.