One of Putin's most important tasks will be to use these skills to drive a wedge between the American president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his supporters in Europe after they presented a united front Wednesday in support of a ceasefire and giving Kyiv a role in negotiations over its territory, Russian analysts said.

For European officials, there is a great deal of nervousness that in this one-on-one meeting with Trump, Putin will once again succeed in flattering the U.S. president — as he has in the past — and flip the narrative from Russia's invasion to one about a great-power carve-up of the global security map.