US President Donald Trump has estimated that his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the US state of Alaska has a 25 per cent chance of not being successful.
In an interview with Fox News Radio, Trump said on Thursday that his meeting with Putin is like “a chess game,” adding that he believes Putin is arriving with the intention of making progress toward reaching a deal on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
He added that if positive progress is made during the meeting, it would lay the groundwork for a second one, which would also include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Xinhua news agency reported.
Trump on Wednesday warned that Russia would face “very severe consequences” if Putin refuses to agree to a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.
The Putin-Trump meeting is set for Friday in Anchorage, Alaska.
Trump also said that he believes Putin is heading into Friday’s Alaska summit wanting to make a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
“I believe now he’s convinced that he’s going to make a deal. He’s going to make a deal. I think he’s going to. And we’re going to find out — I’m going to know very quickly,” Trump said during an appearance on Fox Radio on Thursday morning.
The President kept expectations for the meeting high after White House officials earlier this week downplayed the face-to-face session as a “listening exercise”.
Trump also suggested his goal is to move toward a trilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, suggesting “three different locations” are on the table — including the possibility of “staying in Alaska”.
Trump offered a key caveat, however: “If it’s a bad meeting, I’m not calling anybody — I’m going home…. But if it’s a good meeting, I’m going to call President Zelensky and the European leaders.”
Pressed on whether he’d offer economic incentives to Russia during the meeting, Trump demurred.
“Well, I’d rather not say because I don’t want to play my hand in public, but whatever my hand is, economic incentives — and disincentives maybe — are more important, in a way, but incentives economically, you know,” he said.
