Trump-Putin meeting is under way
The summit between the two leaders and their respective cabinet officials began at 11.32am local time.
Key events
Reporters have been called into the room set up for a joint news conference with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, my colleague David Smith reports from Anchorage.
We will bring you updates here once the event begins, but the timing is a bit of a surprise, since Trump’s aide, Dan Scavino, posted on X less than an hour ago that the first of two planned meetings between the US and Russian delegations was still taking place. That session, in which the two leaders were joined by two foreign policy advisers, was to have been followed by a larger working lunch.
White House edits out Trump’s applause for Putin in social media clip
As our colleague David Smith reported from Anchorage earlier, Donald Trump applauded Vladimir Putin, several times, when the two men met on a red carpet at the US airbase where they are now meeting in private with their top foreign policy advisers.
The Kremlin Press Office quickly distributed a photograph of the US president clapping for “his Russian counterpart” to news agencies.
The fact that the US president clapped for the Russian president and indicted war criminal, prompted the Russia-born cold war historian Sergey Radchenko to post a mind-blown emoji on X. “I argued in my book how the Russians crave nothing quite as much as recognition by the U.S.” he added. “Well, there we have it. There it is.”
Trump’s three rounds of applause were captured on a live stream on the White House YouTube channel. But, a few minutes later, when the White House posted video of the greeting on social media, the clip was edited to begin a split-second after Trump finished his third round of applause for Putin.
The video posted on the official White House Instagram and X accounts shows that Trump’s left arm is still swinging by his side as the clip begins. A look at the original live stream reveals that his arm had just dropped to his side at that point, after being raised in front of the president to clap for the Russian leader wanted by the International Criminal Court for the kidnapping of Ukrainian children.
Ukrainians mock Trump for rolling out the red carpet for Putin
As Donald Trump hosts Vladimir Putin for talks in Alaska aimed at ending the Russian war on Ukraine, some Ukrainians watching from afar have noticed that the US literally rolled out a red carpet for the Russian president, who is an indicted war criminal charged with kidnapping Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied regions of their country.
Mustafa Nayyem, a Ukrainian journalist turned politician, posted an image of US soldiers kneeling to secure the red carpet laid at the foot of Putin’s plane before the Russian president emerged with the caption: “Make Kneeling Great Again”.
Nayyem, who helped organize the 2013 protest movement on Maidan, Kyiv’s Independence Square, that toppled Putin’s ally Viktor Yanukovych, was not alone.
Olga Rudenko, the editor of the Kyiv Independent, shared the same image with the caption: “This is Putin’s new phone wallpaper. American soldiers kneeling under the big letters reading RUSSIA. To fix the red carpet. For a war criminal.” The Russian presidential jet is emblazoned with the word RUSSIA, written in Cyrillic letters.
A Ukrainian soldier, Oleksandr Solonko, wrote: “I feel very sorry for the American military who were forced to roll out the red carpet for the greatest war criminal whose propaganda system has been smearing their country for many years.”
The symbolism did not go unnoticed in Russia. Video of the US troops kneeling on the carpet beneath Putin’s plane was posted on Telegram by the Russian news channel Zvezda, or Star, which is owned by the Russian defense ministry. That clip was later shared on X by a German who supports Ukraine and compared Putin to Hitler.
“Western media are on the verge of completely losing it”, Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, observed on social media. “They spent three years telling everyone Russia was isolated, and today they saw the beautiful red carpet laid out for the Russian president in the US”.
‘On the day of negotiations, the Russians are killing as well,’ Zelenskyy says from Kyiv
As Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin began their summit in Alaska centered on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, delivered an update on the fighting in a social media address from Kyiv.
“On the day of negotiations, the Russians are killing as well. And that speaks volumes,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X accompanying his video update.
He ran through a list of Russian targets. “Sumy – a Russian strike on the central market. Dnipro region – strikes on cities and enterprises. Zaporizhzhia, Kherson region, Donetsk region – deliberate Russian strikes. The war continues, and it is precisely because there is neither an order nor even a signal that Moscow is preparing to end this war,” Ukraine’s president said.
“Russia must end the war that it itself started and has been dragging out for years,” he added. “The killings must stop. A meeting of leaders is needed – at the very least, Ukraine, America, and the Russian side – and it is precisely in such a format that effective decisions are possible. Security guarantees are needed. Lasting peace is needed.”
Trump-Putin meeting is under way
The summit between the two leaders and their respective cabinet officials began at 11.32am local time.
Trump and Putin begin summit, joined by respective delegations
We’re getting some pictures of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, joined by their respective delegations in a room ahead of their meeting. Behind the leaders is a blue backdrop that had the words “pursuing peace” printed on it.
The White House press pool, who are travelling with the president, say that Trump and Putin were sat in place by 11.26am local time, and the press were ushered out of the room by 11.27am.
David Smith
Wearing a dark suit, white shirt and red tie, the US president descended the stairs from Air Force One at 11.08am local time and looked glum as he walked a red carpet.
Trump came to a stop and, as Putin approached, applauded the Russian leader, then gave him a warm handshake and friendly tap on the arm. Putin appeared to crack a joke and both men smiled.
The men walked together towards a platform bearing the sign: “Alaska 2025” Reporters shouted questions at Putin including, “Will you agree to a ceasefire?” and “Will you stop killing civilians?” Putin appeared to shrug.
Putin then joined Trump in the presidential limousine ‘The Beast’ – a rare privilege for allies and adversaries alike – and could be seen laughing.
Trump and Putin drove away in the US president’s official car, nicknamed “the Beast”.
Trump and Putin greet each other as summit begins
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin de-boarded their respective aircrafts, shook hands, and stood on a stage with “ALASKA 2025” emblazoned on the front, as the world’s press captured the moment.
Putin to be joined by Russian cabinet officials at summit
Russian state media is reporting that Vladimir Putin will be joined by his foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and advisor Yuri Ushakov for his meeting with Donald Trump. It will now be a three-on-three summit, as the US president will be joined by secretary of state Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Putin lands in Alaska ahead of summit
Russian president Vladimir Putin has landed in Anchorage, according to Russian state media.
