Putin will try to “tempt” Trump

According to the analyst, the dictator's main goal is to convince the US president that the shortest path to peace is an agreement on Russia's terms.

It is likely that Putin will feign willingness to make concessions, for example, agreeing to meet with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

However, this does not mean that such a meeting will actually take place, because later Moscow may come up with additional conditions for its holding that Kyiv will not agree to.

I think he will also try to appeal to Trump's business-minded nature and tempt him with various "sweeteners" that might come from siding with Russia. This means things like rare earth deals and joint projects in the Arctic, predicts Ivor Bennett.

According to the analyst, this is why the Russian delegation includes Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and the Kremlin's special representative for investments, Kirill Dmitriev.