Five things you need to know before the Trump Putin summit.

What does Putin want?

Many analysts view the meeting with Trump as victory for Putin as the Russian leader tries to end international isolation.

No Western leader has met with Putin from the start of the war in Ukraine on a full scale. He now conducts a summit with the American president, without any preliminary concession”, said Jana Kobrokova, who has served as foreign policy adviser to former Slovak president Zuzana Caputova.

Beyond that, Putin's goal has not continued to change since the start of the war.

“Kremlin believes he is in the upper hand in the battlefield, so if he cannot make diplomatic concessions, he only continues the mission on the ground”, Kobrosova said.

For this reason Putin is expected to resist the idea of accepting the ceasefire.

What does Trump want?

Trump said he wants to use this summit to pave the way for another meeting that would include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

I believe it will be a good date, but even more important will be the second meeting we have. We'll have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelensky, me, and maybe we'll invite European leaders, maybe not”, Trump said on August 14th.

Trump has made it clear that he wants to reach a truce as soon as possible, as the first step towards the final solution. However, some analysts have said Putin will trouble the waters by making other proposals.

Jim O'Brien, the official who served as assistant secretary of state for European affairs in Joe Biden's administration, has said that it is very likely that Putin's proposals would dominate the financial aspect as an opportunity to avoid the concrete details of any ceasefire.

There could be bilateral deals, especially for trade deals that benefit American businesses”, he said.

What does Zelensky want?

Ukrainian president wants to have a seat on his desk. Zelensky has been excluded from the talks and has warned that decisions made in his absence will be meaningless.

The issue of territorial concessions is something Zelensky has consistently rejected. Trump said before the summit that he would not force Kiev to hand over land, but his suggestion that Putin and Zelensky “can share things” has raised the alarm in Kiev.

Such demands are unacceptable not only to Zelensky but also to all Ukrainians.

He hopes Trump and Putin will not agree to something that is unacceptable to him, because he does not want to appear in the sight of the White House as the man who is hindering the process of achieving peace.

What's the situation on the battlefield?

Russia controls about one fifth of Ukrainian territory, which makes up approximately 4,500 square miles [14,000 sq km].

The war front line is about 1,000 miles [1,000 km] long and runs through the areas of Harkive, Luhansk, Donjeck, Zaporigja, and Herson.

Both sides continue to face major losses, but earlier in the month Russia has begun to score victories east of Ukraine, advancing 10km as the army concentrates around the regions of Toretsk and Pokrovsk.

Moscow continues to advance the strategy that military analysts have seen as trading many victims into war in exchange for a small portion of the earth.

What happens now?

Trump has proposed a second trilateral meeting in a few days, which can be held again in Alaska.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke the most on August 14th about conditions that must be met to reach lasting peace.

I believe that we are all aware that there will be discussions on security guarantees. It should also be discussed on territorial disputes and claims both sides fight for”, Rubio has said.

Russia will continue to insist on discussing what it considers the “root of the” conflict code through which it requires Ukraine to give up ambitions for NATO membership, as well as taking steps to disarm the Ukrainian Army.

Each side has red lines, so the way to achieving peace is not easy, reports the REL, follows /Periscope/