The Kremlin is keeping its options open, but analysts said the Russian leader would probably only meet with his Ukrainian counterpart to accept a capitulation.

President Trump seeks to broker a meeting of the two leaders to end Europe’s most destructive war in generations.

A summit in Paris six years ago was the first and only time the two presidents ever met, flanked by French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s then-chancellor Angela Merkel. At the time, Putin and Zelensky were looking to hash out a ceasefire deal for war in Donbas in Ukraine’s east, where Russia-backed forces were fighting Ukrainian troops.

Ukrainian analysts watching their president’s return to the White House were braced for a “nightmare.” They took cautious encouragement from what they saw instead.

"The Federalist" CEO Sean Davis appeared on FNC's "The Will Cain Show" on Monday and reacted to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House. WILL CAIN,

European leaders are to join the Ukrainian president during a visit that seeks a path to ending the war between Ukraine and Russia.

President Trump is insisting that a meeting is being set up between Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Russians have not confirmed the meeting is taking place, despite the White House saying it will occur.