U.S. President Donald Trump personally welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage on Saturday, marking the start of a high-profile summit between the two leaders.
Putin arrived shortly after Trump’s Air Force One landed at the base, where a red carpet had been rolled out for the Russian president. A large “Alaska 2025” banner served as the backdrop to the greeting, flanked by four American fighter jets positioned on either side of the carpet.
The meeting — the first between Trump and Putin in Alaska — will begin with private talks involving only the presidents and their close aides, before expanding to include full delegations. A joint press conference is scheduled to follow the negotiations.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks could last six to seven hours. While the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is expected to dominate discussions, the agenda will also cover broader topics, including U.S.-Russia relations, potential joint economic projects, and various regional and international issues.
Putin’s delegation includes key Russian officials: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, and presidential economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a central figure in Ukraine peace efforts.
On the American side, Trump will be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Special Envoy to Ukraine and the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is also set to attend the expanded bilateral meeting and working lunch.
This marks Putin’s eighth visit to the United States and his first in nearly a decade. His last trip was in 2015, when he attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York and met with then-President Barack Obama.
The Anchorage summit is expected to draw intense global attention, given the heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow and the potential for progress — or setbacks — on critical geopolitical issues.
