Trump and Putin holding Ukraine talks after warm greeting in Alaska

We’re now seeing pictures of Putin and Trump sitting next to each other inside the summit, in front of a backdrop that says “Pursuing Peace” and “Alaska 2025”.

They are accompanied by their delegations, while reporters shout an array of questions at them, and Putin appears to shout back at one stage.

Image source,Reuters

Image source,Getty Images

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent, reporting from Anchorage

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have now met, shaken hands and exchanged pleasantries.

It appeared they had a friendly but animated conversation, as the president at one point reached over and patted the top of Putin’s hand as they again shook.

There was some question about whether the two men would share a limousine ride to their meeting room.

They did – a brief chance for the two men to be alone before their three-on-three meeting accompanied by top aides.

This is clearly the kind of warm reception that the Russians were hoping for – a leader who had been condemned by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, is now being welcomed on US soil with smiles and seemingly casual conversation.

Vitaliy Shevchenko & Liza Fokht
BBC News, in Anchorage

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov will be with Putin in the three-on-three meeting with Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov says.

Lavrov and Ushakov are veteran diplomats who are central to shaping Russian foreign policy.

Lavrov has led the foreign ministry for over 20 years and Ushakov, a key presidential adviser for more than a decade, previously served as Russia’s ambassador to the US.

Image source,Reuters

As Trump and Putin briefly pause for a photo, standing on a platform, reporters take the opportunity to shout questions at the two leaders.

“President Putin, will you agree to a ceasefire?” one person asks.

Another asks what Trump’s message is to Putin.

The two walk away shortly after the last question from a reporter who asked Putin if he would stop killing civilians. Trump and Putin are travelling in the same car together.

Presidents Trump and Putin are now shaking hands. The two leaders walked on to the red carpet rolled out for them – which connects from each plane and meets in the middle.

They are also exchanging pleasantries and smiles as they pose for photos for the world’s press.

Image source,AFP via Getty Images

President Putin is now disembarking from his plane after arriving in Anchorage, Alaska.

He is about to meet President Trump, who is expected to welcome him ahead of crucial talks on the war in Ukraine.

Image source,AFP via Getty Images

US President Donald Trump has just appeared at the doors of Air Force One after landing in Alaska. He’s walking down the aircraft’s steps towards the red carpet laid out for him and Vladimir Putin, who has also just touched down.

As a reminder, you can follow along by clicking watch live at the top of this page.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has just landed in Anchorage, Alaska, for the US-Russia summit.

We’re still waiting for Trump to disembark Air Force One, but the pair are expected to meet at the steps of the Russian president’s aircraft.

Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor, in Anchorage

The summit hasn’t begun yet. But preparations are in full swing for the joint press conference.

At Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base, up on stage, there are two podiums, Russian and American flags and two words: “Pursuing Peace.”

If there’s already a slogan, might that suggest President Putin and President Trump are confident of a successful summit?

Successful for them in terms of kickstarting an improvement in US-Russian relations.

But what will be the consequences for Ukraine?

Will today’s meeting bring an end to Russia’s war there any closer?

Protests in support of Ukraine have been taking place on the sidelines of the highly-anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, where they are set to discuss ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

As a reminder, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to the summit today and has repeatedly asserted that no decisions can made about the future of the country without Ukrainian involvement.

The crowd is expanding in the room where Trump and Putin were meant to have their one-on-one.

But now White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tells reporters that Trump will be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

At the bilateral lunch that follows, Rubio, Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and chief of staff Susie Wiles will be present as well.

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

While the planning for this hastily arranged meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has been somewhat haphazard, the arrival imagery has clearly been given some thought.

A long red carpet stretches from the tarmac to a nearby building. Putin, who has been treated as a pariah by US and European allies for nearly four years, is now getting the VIP treatment from the US side.

Some of America’s latest jet fighters are poised, like daggers, along the walkway, however – a not-so-subtle reminder of US military might.

The not-so subtle message from Trump might be that there are two paths forward from this meeting – diplomacy or more warfare.

Air Force One is touching down in Anchorage with Donald Trump onboard. Some of the US president’s closest allies – Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and CIA director John Ratcliffe – joining him in an attempt to broker peace in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at Elmendorf-Richardson base around 11:30 local time (19:30 GMT/20:30 BST), marking the two leaders’ first face-to-face interaction since Trump returned to the White House for his second term.

You can click watch live at the top of this page to follow along.

How Trump’s words and actions have changed on Ukraine warpublished at 21:12

21:12

Image source,Reuters

By Nick Beake, BBC Verify correspondent, reporting from Washington

US President Donald Trump’s position on Ukraine has shifted many times since he returned to the White House in January.

From accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three” to accusing Vladimir Putin of talking “bull****”, his approach has been highly unconventional and unpredictable.

In February, Trump phoned Putin – a move fellow Western leaders had deemed unacceptable.

Days after his bust-up with Zelensky in the Oval Office, Trump in March paused the supply of weapons and intelligence to Ukraine. He resumed the flow a week later after Kyiv agreed to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire.

But Putin failed to commit to the deal – much to the anger of Trump who blasted his Russian counterpart for the increased missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities.

The Trump-Zelensky relationship appeared to benefit from their meeting in the Vatican moments before the funeral of Pope Francis in April.

But at the start of July came another major US shift, as Washington again paused military aid to Ukraine.

Reversing the decision days later, Trump said he would in fact be increasing the supply of Patriot defensive missiles to Ukraine and agreed to a Nato proposal to allow allies to buy US equipment for use by Kyiv.

Trump then set Putin a deadline to reach a peace deal with Ukraine – a deadline that came and went with no punishment for Russia.

As we await Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s arrival in Alaska ahead of their US-Russia summit, we have a view of the tarmac at the airport where the Russian and American presidents will meet.

The red carpet is laid out between what appear to be military aircraft, ready to welcome them to the summit.

Will Vernon
BBC News

Image source,Sputnik/Kremlin Pool/EPA

There was reportedly confusion leading up to today’s summit about what exactly Vladimir Putin had preliminarily agreed to during a meeting with White House envoy Steve Witkoff last week.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Witkoff had presented three differing versions of a potential ceasefire deal – accepted by Putin – to European officials.

Most notably of all, reports say this concerned the crucial point of whether Moscow was prepared to withdraw its forces from Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, both partially occupied by Russia.

Writing on social media about the Witkoff-Putin meeting, President Trump said: “My special envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made!”

Witkoff has come under criticism before from former US diplomats and analysts for meeting President Putin without advisors, failing to take notes and relying on a Kremlin interpreter, instead of bringing a translator from the US Embassy in Moscow.

Experts have noted that Witkoff, who is often referred to as ‘President Trump’s Special Envoy for Everything’, lacks qualifications and experience in diplomacy and international affairs.

Prior to his White House appointment, he worked as a New York lawyer and real-estate developer.

Compare that to President Putin, who’s been doing diplomatic deals on the international stage for more than 25 years.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring Russia editor, in Anchorage

Moscow has “no over-inflated expectations” ahead of the summit in Alaska, Russian ambassador to the US Alexander Darchiev says.

Russia is expecting “constant and gradual progress” from the talks, not a breakthrough, he tells state news agency RIA Novosti.

Sarah Smith
North America editor, in Anchorage

We have now made it inside the base to a media holding area.

TV screens are showing the preparations for a planned joint Trump-Putin press conference later.

Looking at the title on the backdrop, “Pursuing Peace”, they seem to be optimistic about today’s talks.

We’re expecting both Trump and Putin to land in Anchorage, Alaska within the next two hours.

The US president is scheduled to touch down at 10:30 local time (14:30 EDT / 19:30 BST) and the Russian president at 11:00 local time (15:00 EDT / 20:00 BST).

Trump is set to meet Putin on the stairs of his plane before the two head to their one-on-one meeting, with some aides present. The Kremlin said earlier that the meeting could last six or seven hours.

Gary O’Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent

Image source,Getty Images

It has proved incredibly hard for US President Donald Trump to make any progress on the Ukraine war whatsoever.

Bearing in mind, he’s sent his envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow five times now.

The only real thing that’s come out of that is a few pretty low level meetings in Istanbul, between Ukrainians and the Russians, some prisoner swaps – but really very little progress.

Typically with these sorts of summits, all of the work has already been done – all the preparation and agreements have been ironed out. Usually this would be a ceremonial moment.

But what is happening in Alaska is that the two countries are starting pretty much from a blank sheet of paper.

We don’t know exactly what either side is really trying to achieve here, other than President Trump saying he wants to stop the killing.

That’s a noble aim. These talks are about life and death, war and peace – these things do matter.

But, we don’t know how Russian President Putin and President Trump will get from their positions now to where Trump wants to be.