Trump and Putin Meet in Alaska, Begin Talks on Ending the Ukraine War

Summit Begins Without Opening Statements
Will This Mark a Turning Point Toward Ending the War?

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin began a summit in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15 (local time) to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. With three years and six months having passed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, attention is focused on whether this U.S.-Russia summit will mark a significant turning point toward ending the war.

AP Yonhap News

Air Force One, carrying President Trump, arrived first at the summit venue, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, at 10:20 a.m. local time (2:20 p.m. Eastern Time). About 30 minutes later, President Putin's private jet landed at the same location.

President Trump waited for President Putin on the red carpet at the airfield, and as Putin approached, Trump extended his hand first for a handshake. The two leaders smiled broadly as they shook hands, and each lightly tapped the other's arm with their free hand in a gesture of greeting.

This face-to-face meeting between the two leaders is their first in six years, since the G20 summit held in Osaka in June 2019. It also marks President Putin's first visit to the West since his invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

After a handshake and brief conversation lasting about 10 seconds, the two leaders reviewed the military honor guard along the red carpet and then posed for approximately 30 seconds for a commemorative photo in front of a podium bearing the words "Alaska 2025." Four F-22 stealth fighter jets were stationed on both sides of the red carpet.

The two leaders then boarded the U.S. presidential limousine, a Cadillac, together and headed to the summit venue. President Trump sat in the seat diagonally behind the driver, while President Putin sat directly behind the driver.

Inside the meeting room, the wall featured the phrase "PURSUING PEACE" in white letters against a blue background. Both sides began the closed-door summit without any opening statements.

Initially, the summit was planned as a one-on-one meeting between President Trump and President Putin, followed by an expanded session with aides over lunch. However, the White House announced just before the meeting that the format had changed to a 3-on-3 meeting. On the U.S. side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff joined, while on the Russian side, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, presidential aide for foreign policy, were present.