Putin "plays with the desire of the U.S. administration to bring peace to Ukraine," Zahorodniuk said. "Putin wants to get the U.S. on their side to get all Donbas, something they cannot achieve without losing another few hundred thousand people and a year of time."

US President Donald Trump will be meeting his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on Friday (August 15). The location of the high-stakes summit assumes importance as the territory was once held by Russia.

Whether the U.S.-Russia summit can lead to a deal to produce peace in Ukraine more than 3 1/2 years after Moscow’s invasion remains to be seen.