Retired US Marine Corps colonel Mark Cancian said the upcoming talks do not appear well thought out.
“Usually when there’s a summit, the staff have already worked out most of the agreement, and the leaders just top it off and make the final handshake,” he said.
“That doesn’t appear to have occurred here. There’s a lot of confusion going into the discussion, and it’s not really clear what sort of bargain is on the table.”
Cancian, who is now a senior adviser at think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, echoed worries that Ukrainian interests may not be covered if the nation is left out.
“Military war is not going terribly well for Ukraine, and Trump has shown that he will pressure Ukraine into agreements that they may not want,” he told CNA’s Asia Now programme.
Cancian noted that Ukraine has attacked Russian airfields, military sites and oil facilities to stall Moscow’s advancement and put pressure on the Kremlin go to the negotiating table.
Despite this, “it doesn’t look like it will be enough to make Putin believe that ending the war is better than continuing it,” he added.
