Putin Heads Into Trump Call Confident

“Vladimir Putin believes he has a strong hand ahead of a phone call Monday with Donald Trump as European leaders are trying to prevent the US president from rushing through a deal,” Bloomberg reports.

“Putin is confident that his forces can break through Ukraine’s defenses by the end of the year to take full control of four regions that he has claimed for Russia, according to a person familiar with the Russian president’s thinking who asked not to named discussing private conversations.”

New York Times: Trump and Putin set to discuss Ukraine war in high-stakes call.

Playbook: “So the million-ruble question remains: How will Trump react if there’s no real progress (again) today? There are concerns inside Europe he’ll either try to force through a disastrous deal from Ukraine’s perspective, or just abandon the whole peace idea — plus U.S. support on the battlefield — altogether.”