Washington Examiner’s Timothy Nerozzi said Wednesday that President Donald Trump has “more or less” been a “sucker” in negotiating peace with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Trump is meeting in person on Friday.

Trump said on Thursday that Putin can expect “very severe consequences” if he does not agree to end Russia’s war with Ukraine following their meeting, which is set to be held in Alaska. Nerozzi expressed skepticism about Trump’s warning, saying he is unsure if there isn’t a demand that hasn’t been “skirted” amid negotiations.

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“Trump thus far, up until now, has … more or less, been a sucker for what Putin has to say, and Putin’s a very smooth talker. I think Trump might have deluded himself into thinking that Putin is on his level of a pragmatic businessman, a man who knows how to make deals for the betterment of both sides, but that’s not Putin,” Nerozzi said on LiveNOW from Fox.

“Putin’s a former KGB wheeler-dealer; he is a silver-tongued, expert negotiator, not in terms of what he’s willing to give up, but in what he’s willing to say to prolong the negotiations until he gets what he wants anyway,” Nerozzi said.

Nerozzi also said it appears Trump is beginning to “wake up” to how Putin is treating the situation, and is becoming “jaded” about it. He said Trump is entering Friday’s meeting expecting “serious movement,” but it’s “anyone’s guess” if something comes out of it.

TRUMP MUST TURN THE TABLES ON PUTIN IN ALASKA

Nerozzi added that Trump knows the world is watching him try to make “the deal of the century” in negotiating peace, and the president “wants to be the guy” to finally resolve the conflict in a manner that satisfies Ukraine and the United States’s allies in Europe.

Trump said on Wednesday he would not try to make a deal with Putin and instead relay the Russian president’s sentiment to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Union leaders. He said he would call Zelensky first “out of respect.”