Key events
Faisal Ali
Ahead of the Trump-Putin summit, the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, has said that Britain stands with Ukraine on “what will be an important day for the future of Ukraine and Euro-Atlantic security”.
Lammy said he had spoken to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, and, in a post on social media, added: “I reiterated our enduring support and our commitment to work with the US and Ukraine to secure a just and lasting peace.”
The view from Alaska: meeting could prove a win-win for Trump and Putin
David Smith
Greetings from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a cold war-era military installation on the outskirts of Anchorage, that will play host to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin today.
I am among an estimated 700 journalists from all over the world. We were greeted at Anchorage international airport by the sight of a majestic brown bear slain by Governor Mike Dunleavy and displayed as a trophy in a glass case.
The media gathered downtown at 5.30am local time today and were bused to the air force base under a big sky with picturesque mountains. The airbase is like a small city with housing, children’s playgrounds, nondescript three-storey lodgings, a church with stained glass windows and great grassy expanses. The temperature is a crisp 50F.
The Reuters news agency reported: “The Kremlin press pool was housed in an Alaska Airlines Center, where a semi-open-plan room was subdivided by partitions and some reporters were seen making their own camp-style beds. They were fed for free at a nearby university campus, Russian reporters said.”
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was crucial to countering the Soviet Union during the cold war. It continues to play a role today, as planes from the base still intercept Russian aircraft that regularly fly into US airspace. Putin’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, arrived in a sweatshirt with “CCCP” – the Russian letters for USSR – across the front.
Today’s meeting could prove a win-win for the two leaders. Putin, an alleged war criminal who had been an international pariah, gets to meet the US president on American soil. Trump, for his part, gets to play global statesman in a massive media spectacle where no one is talking about Jeffrey Epstein.
Russian government plane lands ahead of summit
The plane transporting Vladimir Putin and other Russian government officials has landed in Anchorage, Alaska, according to Flightradar24.
Trump’s pivotal meeting with Putin to begin shortly
Welcome to our coverage of the US president’s summit with Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska. This will be the first meeting with the Kremlin leader of Trump’s second term in office – and his seventh in total.
I’m Shrai popatand I’ll be bringing you the latest – alongside my colleagues – from today’s event.
The summit is set to kick off in just over an hour (3pm ET), at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. To get you up to speed, this is where things stand at the moment:
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Donald Trump has said, repeatedly, over the last few days that his chief aim of today’s meeting is to Get a Trilateral Summit Between Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and himself on the books. In his own words, Trump wants this to happen “almost immediately”. He’s also convinced that he’ll be able to tell from the first few minutes of his meeting today whether it will be a success, and would be prepared to walk away “real fast” if he thinks it’s not going well, according to an interview with Fox News.
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Crucially, the president has said he’s not in Alaska to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine, but instead with the goal of “getting Putin to the table”.
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However, Trump has been less clear on what would constitute a success from his sit-down with the Kremlin leader today. Earlier, on Air Force One, the president told reporters that he wants to see a ceasefire “rapidly”. He added: “I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today.”
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The president also repeated his stern words from earlier in the week that Russia could expect “severe consequences” if it fails to show willingness to end the war in Ukraine. “Economically severe. It will be very severe. I’m not doing this for my health, OK, I don’t need it. I’d like to focus on our country, but I’m doing this to save a lot of lives,” the president said.
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For Zelenskyy’s part, he said that Ukraine is “counting on America”. He’s been shut out of talks today, but reiterated his call for “an honest end to the war”, and said he hoped to see “a strong American position” during today’s talks in Alaska.
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When it comes to territory negotiationsTrump has said he’s not interested in deciding on those today without Ukraine present, and Zelenskyy has said categorically that Ukraine could not agree to a ceasefire deal which cedes territory, as Moscow could use this as a springboard to start a future war.
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Trump confirmed to Zelenskyy that he’ll be calling him first after today’s meeting wraps, and he’s set to brief European leaders after that debrief.
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Ahead of the today’s summit, the president posted on Truth Social that he had a “wonderful” call with the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, saying “the purpose of the call was to thank him for the release of 16 prisoners”, with 1,300 under discussion. The Belarussian leader is the country’s only president since it adopted its current constitution. Lukashenko has described himself as Europe’s “last and only dictator”and is a notable Russian ally.
