Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shook hands and smiled at an air base in Alaska on Friday as they opened a high-risk summit that will test the US president’s promise to end the bloody war in Ukraine.

In choreographed drama, Trump and Putin each arrived in their presidential jets and walked under gray skies to greet each other on the tarmac, before walking a red carpet together to an honor guard salute. As fighter jets circled overhead, a reporter shouted audibly to Putin, “Will you stop killing civilians?”

Trump-Putin Alaska Summit LIVE

Neither leader answered as they posed at a podium that said “Alaska 2025” before Putin — in a highly unusual move — followed Trump into the US presidential limousine. For the Russian president, the summit marks his first foray onto Western soil since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a relentless conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Talks underway

Both leaders have voiced hopes of a productive meeting. But while Trump warned he could judge it a failure after just a few minutes if Putin does not budge, the Kremlin said the two would speak for at least six or seven hours. In recent days Russia has made battlefield gains that could strengthen Putin’s hand in any ceasefire negotiations, although Ukraine announced as Putin was flying that it had retaken some villages.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Anchorage, Trump sounded a positive note. “There’s a good respect level on both sides and I think something’s going to come out of it,” he said. Trump has insisted he will be firm with Putin, after coming under some of the most heated criticism of his presidency for appearing cowed during a 2018 summit in Helsinki.

The White House on Friday abruptly announced that Trump was scrapping a plan to see Putin alone and instead would be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his roving envoy Steve Witkoff before a working lunch. Every word and gesture will be closely watched by European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not included and has refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.

“It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelensky said in a social media post. Trump has called the summit a “feel-out meeting” to test Putin, whom he last saw in 2019, and said Friday he was not going to Alaska to negotiate.

“I’m here to get them at the table,” he said of the Russian and Ukrainian leaders. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not forecast the outcome of the meeting.

“We never make any predictions ahead of time,” Lavrov told Russian state TV after he reached Alaska, wearing what appeared to be a shirt with “USSR” written across it in Cyrillic script. Trump has promised to consult with European leaders and Zelensky, saying that any final agreement would come in a three-way meeting with Putin and the Ukrainian president to “divvy up” territory.

‘Severe’ consequences’

Trump has boasted of his relationship with Putin, blamed predecessor Joe Biden for the war, and had vowed before his return to the White House in January that he would be able to bring peace within 24 hours. But despite repeated calls to Putin, and a February 28 White House meeting in which Trump publicly berated Zelensky, the Russian leader has shown no signs of compromise.

Saying he “would walk” from the table if the meeting didn’t go well, Trump told reporters he “wouldn’t be happy” if a ceasefire could not be secured immediately. The talks were taking place at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the largest US military installation in Alaska and a Cold War facility for surveillance of the former Soviet Union.

Adding to the historical significance, the United States bought Alaska in 1867 from Russia — a deal Moscow has cited to show the legitimacy of land swaps. Neither leader is expected to step off the base into Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, where protesters have put up signs of solidarity with Ukraine.

The summit marks a sharp change in approach from Western European leaders and Biden, who vowed not to hold discussions with Russia on Ukraine unless Kyiv was also involved.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Downing Street on Thursday (August 14, 2025) morning, a day before the Presidents of Russia and the U.S. are to meet in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss a ceasefire to the Russia-Ukraine war.

A Downing Street readout of the Zelenskyy- Starmer meeting said the two men looked at Friday’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “ viable chance to make progress as long as Putin takes action to prove he is serious about peace”.

“We also discussed in considerable detail the security guarantees that can make peace truly durable if the United States succeeds in pressing Russia to stop the killings and engage in genuine, substantive diplomacy,” Mr. Zelenskyy said on X, after the meeting of the so called Coalition of the Willing, a group of mostly European countries that would provide a “reassurance force” in Ukraine, to help maintain peace, following any ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow.

Mr. Zelenksyy was in Berlin to meet with the group on Wednesday (August 13, 2025) prior to a conference call with Mr. Trump and U.S. Vice President J D Vance (who is in the U.K. at the moment). The call was hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Mr. Starmer and Mr. Zelenksyy reviewed Wednesday’s meeting and had “agreed there had been a powerful sense of unity and a strong resolve to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Downing Street said.

Europe has been engaging Mr. Trump prior to Friday’s discussions with Mr. Putin. The U.S. President also reacted faourably to his call with the European leaders.

“I would rate it a 10. Very friendly,” Mr. Trump had said about the call. The U.S. President has said he will meet Mr. Zeleknsyy and Mr. Putin together, if Friday’s meeting in Alaska goes well.