U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin began their summit on the 15th (local time) in Alaska. The two leaders sat down together for the first time in six years with the goal of negotiating an end to the ongoing Ukraine war, which has lasted for three years and six months.
The private jet that President Trump traveled on, 'Air Force One,' landed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska around 10:20 a.m. local time, and President Putin's private jet arrived about 30 minutes later. As President Putin's jet entered U.S. airspace, four U.S. stealth fighters were reported to have escorted it.
President Trump first stepped off the private jet and waited for President Putin on a red carpet. When President Putin approached, he welcomed him with applause, and the two leaders exchanged handshakes and pleasantries.
The two leaders immediately got into a black limousine and moved to the meeting venue. This summit is the first U.S.-Russia summit since the inauguration of the Trump administration's second term, and it marks the first such meeting in six years since the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in 2019. It has been 10 years since President Putin visited the U.S. after the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2015, and this is the first time he has visited a Western country since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The meeting was held in a 3-on-3 format rather than the originally scheduled one-on-one format. According to the White House, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff were present for the U.S., while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, an advisor on foreign policy at the Kremlin, participated. Following this, a larger meeting is expected to include key ministers from both sides, such as the Ministers of Finance, Commerce, and Defense, to conduct a luncheon meeting.
The main agenda of this meeting is the ongoing Ukraine war, which has lasted for three years and six months. Before the meeting, President Trump told reporters, "I want to see a prompt ceasefire," and added, "I will not be satisfied if there are no results today." However, he clarified that regarding the territorial exchange issue between Ukraine and Russia, "Ukraine must make the decision." President Putin did not answer questions from reporters about the "halt to civilian killings" or whether he would agree to a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to this meeting. Before the summit, President Zelensky criticized on social media, saying, "There is no sign that Moscow intends to end the war," and noted that civilian casualties occurred due to missile attacks by Russian forces on the same day. He added that he expects the U.S. to take a "strong position" supporting Ukraine's demands.
On this day, President Trump expressed hope that if a ceasefire is achieved, a trilateral meeting involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or even a multilateral meeting involving some European leaders could facilitate negotiations for a "peace settlement."