Let's hope that Trump and Putin will not meet in person

Translating the opinion of Ukrainian journalist Vitaly Portnikov in the Dialog, May 16:

"Portnikov told about Putin's cunning plan: to offer Trump something in exchange for Ukraine that he will not be able to resist 

Vitaly Portnikov warned Ukrainians that the situation for us could worsen after Trump's meeting with Putin.

Vitaly Portnikov explained why there is no point in expecting positive results for Ukraine from the talks in Istanbul: "It turns out that Trump will now insist that he wants to meet with Putin. Let me remind you that the idea of his advisers was that Trump should not meet with Putin until Putin agrees to at least some proposal from Trump, at least some kind of ceasefire."...

"Putin calmly waited out all this and now, as I understand it, will meet with Trump against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine, and I also think that there will be serious shelling of Ukrainian territory on the day of this meeting in order to finally stain the American president's hands with the blood of peaceful Ukrainians. That's all for you. Now the question is, will Trump achieve anything by negotiating with Putin? He will achieve nothing, because if Putin defied him during telephone conversations when he offered him a ceasefire, then it is obvious that the Russian dictator will have the courage to say "no" to him when Trump asks him for a ceasefire during a personal meeting," the publicist shared his conclusions. 

Then Vitaly Portnikov suggested how the head of the Kremlin could use the meeting with Trump to his advantage: "Putin will again tell the US President about the root cause of the conflict. I think he will be frank with him: "Donald, do you want to make money with us? There is one problem: the existence of Ukraine. Without Ukraine, there will be no problem. How can we make it so that it does not exist? Please, do not interfere. Just get out." I think that Putin will calmly, harshly and cold-bloodedly tell Trump if Trump meets with him. What Trump will do after that, I cannot say, because he always reacts to events inadequately.""