A US official has said that “all options remain on the table” during the summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska, including the possibility of Trump walking out of the meeting if he does not believe that Putin is serious about making a deal.

Source: CNN, citing an unnamed official, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Trump alluded to such a possibility during a conversation with journalists on Thursday 14 August.

“We’re going to find out where everybody stands, and I’ll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five minutes. We tend to find out whether or not we’re going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting, and if it’s a bad meeting, it’ll end very quickly, and if it’s a good meeting, we’re going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future,” Trump said.

The American official noted that the White House approaches the meeting with cautious optimism, emphasising that Trump believes he needs to be in the same room with Putin to assess what he is prepared to do regarding a ceasefire. The official also did not rule out the possibility that the US president could leave the summit ahead of schedule if he sees that Putin is not aligned with the expected approach.

Trump said he expects Putin to take the meeting seriously, warning of very severe consequences for Moscow if the Russian leader does not agree to take steps to end the war.

Background: On the morning of 15 August, a rally in support of Ukraine took place ahead of the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.

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