ANCHORAGE, Alaska — President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have started their meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, their first face-to-face encounter of Trump’s second administration and the first between a U.S. president and Putin since he embarked on his 3 1/2-year war against Ukraine.
Putin was greeted by a show of U.S. military might as two B-2 bombers were flown into the base, similar to the jets used to strike Iran’s nuclear sites in Operation Midnight Hammer.
Trump arrived first in Alaska and waited aboard Air Force One to deplane until Putin arrived in his own plane. At 11:08 a.m. local time, the pair walked separate red carpets on the tarmac before a warm greeting of an extended handshake and smiles. The two leaders stood side-by-side on a podium that read “Alaska 2025” before departing together in Trump’s presidential limousine.
The Friday meeting is poised to be expanded for lunch before the prospect of a press conference in the afternoon. The previously planned one-on-one meeting is now a three-on-three meeting as Trump is joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Putin is to have foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“HIGH STAKES!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social before departing the White House after spending the week trying to manage expectations.
Trump even told Fox News Radio on Thursday that there was a 25% chance that his meeting with Putin would be unsuccessful.
Aboard Air Force One en route to Alaska, Trump told reporters he would discuss Russia-Ukraine land swaps with Putin, despite telling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO allies this week during a series of phone calls that he would prioritize talk of a ceasefire as he positions himself for a Nobel Peace Prize. Zelensky has appeared open to a conversation about territory exchanges along the current contact line, but not areas Putin has allegedly annexed.
“They’ll be discussed, but I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision,” Trump said. “I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I’m here to get them at a table.”
Trump also provided more information regarding his approach to security guarantees, for which Ukraine has advocated, considering Russia’s record of not respecting ceasefires.
“Not in the form of NATO because there are certain things that aren’t going to happen — but along with Europe, there’s a possibility of that,” the president said.
He quipped, “I’m not doing this for my health. I don’t need it. I’d like to focus on our country — but I’m doing this to save a lot of lives.”
Aside from Ukraine, Putin has been accompanied to the United States, his first trip here since 2015, by business leaders as the Russians posture concerning a possible minerals deal in response to Trump’s repeated threats of “very severe consequences,” including primary and secondary sanctions, if Putin does not pursue peace. In addition, Putin hopes to raise a new nuclear arms treaty with Trump.
Meanwhile, Trump has indicated he may mention Russia’s hack of a U.S. federal court database after accusations that Putin meddled in the 2016 election to help Trump.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Poland Daniel Fried told the Washington Examiner that Putin could distract Trump from a peace deal with Ukraine with an economic agreement with Russia.
“Well, he could try,” the Atlantic Council distinguished fellow and former State Department coordinator for sanctions policy said. “If you’re coming up with a list of things to throw out there to distract Trump, that would be one of them. And then the question is, will Trump be focused enough to brush that aside and shake up Putin? If he does that, this could be a success, but it’s a big if.”
On Air Force One, Trump downplayed the importance of an economic deal, contending “we’re not doing business until we get the war settled,” particularly with Russia’s recent advances on the battlefield.
“He thinks it gives him strength in negotiating,” he said. “I think it hurts him. But I’ll be talking to him about it later.”
A White House official told the Washington Examiner that “POTUS will determine what is possible in the meeting.”
Friday’s meeting represents a pivotal moment in the war as Zelensky deals with a U.S. that has been less supportive than in the past, especially after the clash between him, Trump, and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office in February, though Trump last month reversed a decision to stop deploying military aid to Ukraine.
Zelensky himself is under pressure at home related to the war and government transparency reforms, experiencing protests last time for the first time during his presidency.
For Peter Slezkine, the Stimson Center’s Russia program director, there is “nothing magical or mysterious” about Trump and Putin’s relationship.
“They’ve always seemed to get along fairly well — on the phone and in person,” Slezkine told the Washington Examiner. “But as we’ve seen in the past, compatibility between their worldviews is not sufficient, on its own, to overcome the conflict between their two countries.”
Slezkine suggested there is a “chance” that Putin might agree to pause airstrikes on Ukraine if Zelensky agrees to the same with Russia, which “Trump could sell this as a first step toward an eventual peace.”
“If Trump takes a ceasefire-or-else approach, then the meeting might turn into a fiasco,” he said. “Putin will not accept an immediate unconditional ceasefire. He believes that he possesses the military advantage and will not surrender it unless he gains something substantial in return.”
The threat of additional American sanctions is unlikely to change this calculus, according to Slezkine.
“Russia believes that American leverage against China and India is limited, and the Kremlin remains confident in its ability to find markets for its energy and sources of key inputs,” Slezkine said. “A failed American ultimatum in Alaska may lead to a long-lasting war — or a Ukrainian collapse.”
He added, “An amicable meeting that ends with an anodyne declaration of both sides’ desire for peace should be considered a success if it leads to further contact at the working group level. The best-case scenario would be a compromise between the two sides that could then be ironed out and implemented in a subsequent trilateral meeting with Zelensky.”
Read more from the Washington Examiner on the Trump-Putin meeting:
- TRUMP LOOKS TO APPLY LESSONS FROM HELSINKI IN FACE-TO-FACE WITH PUTIN
- TRUMP-PUTIN SUMMIT: THE REALITY OF WHERE THINGS STAND ON THE UKRAINE BATTLEFIELD
- TRUMP THREATENS ‘SEVERE’ CONSEQUENCES FOR PUTIN: ‘NOT DOING THIS FOR MY HEALTH’
- TRUMP DODGES QUESTIONS ON RARE EARTH MINERALS DEAL FOR PUTIN’S PEACE
- EUROPEAN LEADERS WARY THAT TRUMP-PUTIN SUMMIT COULD END WITH LAND CONCESSIONS
- TRUMP SAYS ‘NEXT MEETING’ AFTER PUTIN SUMMIT WILL INVOLVE ZELENSKY
- ZELENSKY WARNS PUTIN IS PREPARING FOR MORE WAR, NOT PEACE, AHEAD OF TRUMP MEETING
- TRUMP’S RUSSIA SANCTION DEADLINE COMES AND GOES WITH A WHIMPER