A Ukrainian serviceman, known as Bronson, of the 148th artillery brigade carries a 155-millimeter shell in front of an M777 howitzer at the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Thursday. (AP photo)

The threats, pressure and ultimatums have come and gone, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained Moscow’s uncompromising demands in the war in Ukraine, raising fears he could use a planned summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska to coerce Kyiv into accepting an unfavorable deal.

The maximalist demands reflect Putin’s determination to reach the goals he set when he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Putin sees a possible meeting with Trump as a chance to negotiate a broad deal that would not only cement Russia’s territorial gains but also keep Ukraine from joining NATO and hosting any Western troops, allowing Moscow to gradually pull the country back into its orbit.

The Kremlin leader believes time is on his side as the exhausted and outgunned Ukrainian forces are struggling to stem Russian advances in many sectors of the over 600-mile front line while swarms of Russian missiles and drones batter Ukrainian cities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also has stood firm in his positions, agreeing to a ceasefire proposed by Trump while reaffirming the country’s refusal to abandon seeking NATO membership and rejecting acknowledgment of Russia’s annexation of any of its regions.

European leaders, meanwhile, rallied behind Ukraine, saying peace in the war-torn nation can’t be resolved without Kyiv. Zelenskyy thanked European allies in a post on X, writing Sunday: “The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people.”

A look at Russian and Ukrainian visions of a peace deal and how a Putin-Trump summit could evolve:

Russia’s position

In a memorandum presented at talks in Istanbul in June, Russia offered Ukraine two options for establishing a 30-day ceasefire. One demanded Ukraine withdraw its forces from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — the four regions Moscow illegally annexed in September 2022 but never fully captured.

As an alternate condition for a ceasefire, Russia made a “package proposal” for Ukraine to halt mobilization efforts, freeze Western arms deliveries and ban any third-country forces on its soil. Moscow also suggested Ukraine end martial law and hold elections, after which the countries could sign a comprehensive peace treaty.

Once there’s a truce, Moscow wants a deal to include the “international legal recognition” of its annexations of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and the four regions in 2022.

Ukraine’s position

The memorandum that Ukraine presented to Moscow in Istanbul emphasized the need for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to set stage for peace negotiations.

It reaffirmed Ukraine’s consistent rejection of Russian demands for neutral status as an attack on its sovereignty, declaring it is free to choose its alliances and adding that its NATO membership will depend on consensus with the alliance.

It emphasized Kyiv’s rejection of any restrictions on the size and other parameters of its armed forces, as well as curbs on the presence of foreign troops on its soil.

Ukraine’s memorandum also opposed recognizing any Russian territorial gains, while describing the current line of contact as a starting point in negotiations.

Trump’s positions

Trump has often spoken admiringly of Putin and even echoed his talking points on the war. He had a harsh confrontation with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, but later warmed his tone. As Putin resisted a ceasefire and continued his aerial bombardments, Trump showed exasperation with the Kremlin leader, threatening Moscow with new sanctions.

Although Trump expressed disappointment with Putin, his agreement to meet him without Zelenskyy at the table raised worries in Ukraine and its European allies, who fear it could allow the Russian to get Trump on his side and strong-arm Ukraine into concessions.

Trump said without giving details that “there’ll be some swapping of territories, to the betterment of both” Russia and Ukraine as part of any peace deal that he will discuss with Putin when they meet Friday.

Putin repeatedly warned Ukraine will face tougher conditions for peace if it doesn’t accept Moscow’s demands as Russian troops forge into other regions to build what he described as a “buffer zone.” Some observers suggested Russia could trade those recent gains for the territories of the four annexed by Moscow still under Ukrainian control.

“That is potentially a situation that gives Putin a tremendous amount of leeway as long as he can use that leverage to force the Ukrainians into a deal that they may not like and to sideline the Europeans effectively,” Sam Greene of King’s College London said. “The question is, will Trump sign up to that and will he actually have the leverage to force the Ukrainians and the Europeans to accept it?”

Putin could accept a temporary truce to win Trump’s sympathy as he seeks to achieve broader goals, Greene said.