According to leaks in American media, the partitioning of Ukraine appears to be on the "menu" for the meeting between the American president and his Russian counterpart. The Russian president is reportedly demanding significant concessions of Ukrainian territories in order to agree to an end to the war in Ukraine.
The location of the meeting also has its own significant symbolism. The one-on-one meeting between the two presidents will take place in Alaska, an area that Russia sold to the U.S. 158 years ago for 7.2 million dollars. In the same area, Putin will try to "sell" Trump the "deal of the century," as CNN describes it, with the concession to Russia of large parts of Ukraine's territories.
"The fact that it's a summit on American soil is a triumph for Putin without him even having lifted a finger. And here we are. Trump said there would be a 100-day deadline, and then he reduced it to two weeks, which expired yesterday (ed. note: Friday, August 08). And the deadline passed and nothing happened. So these sanctions he threatened against Russia as of yesterday will not happen," said Sky News network analyst, Michael Clarke.
The current conditions seem to favor Russia greatly, and the Kremlin was able to see this. Putin seized the opportunity and gave his maximalist terms to Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kyiv and its European allies reacted strongly when Witkoff suggested that Ukraine could cede some areas in Donetsk and Luhansk in exchange for a ceasefire.
