It is worth noting that Russian media outlets do not seem to have received a unified message, and each is writing something different based on their own assumptions about what needs to be written. The only exception is the military correspondents, who have been instructed to quell negative expectations and “betrayal” from the fact that Putin is not only meeting with the Americans, but may even abandon the idea of completely destroying Ukraine.This indicates one thing: the Russian authorities do not understand how the conversation will proceed and are leaving themselves some leeway. “In general, the conversation has two practically equivalent aspects: borders and sanctions. And the economic situation in Russia is such that sanctions, from a logical point of view, are more important than borders. However, logic is not Putin's strongest suit.”In general, we can talk about three basic scenarios for the Trump-Putin conversation. It should be noted right away that these are basic scenarios, each of which will have a number of variants.1. Putin is proceeding with the hope that he will be able to delay the process. His fundamental idea is to impose an air ceasefire while simultaneously holding presidential elections in Ukraine. The logic is as follows: he declares an air ceasefire, while the war on the ground continues. Ukraine holds elections during this time, and in three to four months, a final peace agreement is signed. Putin believes that during this time, he will be able to occupy the Donetsk region, which, in my opinion, is impossible. But more importantly, we cannot hold elections during wartime. Therefore, this option is impossible for us and the EU.“2. Trump, apparently, will insist on a complete end to the war with a partial “shift” of the front line, which is the line of the future “border.” And, accordingly, urgent presidential elections.”3. Putin will immediately set impossible conditions for Ukraine's withdrawal from the unoccupied territories, which even Trump will not support.But that's only part of the conversation. The main part, in my opinion, and the part of the negotiations that remains closed, is about lifting sanctions and possible preferences for the US.The Russian proposal, announced three months ago, for joint development of the Arctic is too expensive and too distant a prospect. Therefore, it can only be an addition to other proposals.Another proposal - to create joint trading houses under the American flag that would trade in sanctioned goods in the EU - seems unrealistic given Europe's position.We do not yet understand how these sanctions will be lifted, but I repeat, this will be the main part of the conversation, in my opinion.Everything will become clear tomorrow. But Trump is not being disingenuous when he says that everything will become clear in the first few minutes of the conversation. And as strange as it may sound, as of now, it seems that Putin himself does not understand how he will conduct this very conversation.The thing is, he has no good options. Ending the war means conflict with the ultra-patriotic part of society, which will turn into proactive opposition, albeit kitchen-sink opposition at first. The breakdown of negotiations will mean tougher secondary sanctions and an acceleration of the Russian economic recession. The Russian authorities see only three ways out of the recession: repression, raiding, and falling into the arms of China.If tomorrow's negotiations fail, the next window of opportunity for negotiations will only open when the US-China negotiations reach the finish line. That is, in about six months.SourceAbout the author: Vadym Denysenko, political scientist.The editorial board does not always share the opinions expressed by blog authors.