US President Donald Trump has welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin with a warm handshake ahead of a high-stakes summit in Alaska that could determine whether a ceasefire can be reached in Ukraine.
Trump disembarked Air Force One on Saturday morning (AEST) and waited for Putin on the tarmac for their first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to the White House.
In a historic moment, the two exchanged greetings while smiling, with US F-22 aircraft placed on either side of the red carpet.
The presidents touched each other on the arm and Putin laughed at something Trump said.
Together they walked to Trump’s limousine, hopped inside and sat side by side in the back.
As the vehicle drove off, Putin and Trump could be seen laughing, and Putin gave a small wave through the back window.
At the summit site nearby, the two presidents were then photographed sitting silently in front of a blue backdrop printed with the words, “Pursuing Peace”.
The Kremlin said the meeting — their first since 2019 — could take up to seven hours.
Trump will be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.
Putin is also expected to have senior aides at his side.
Trump reportedly said he would “walk” if his high-stakes meeting with Putin did not go well.
Heading over on Air Force One, he told Fox News’ Bret Baier that he would be getting out of there if the summit did not head in the right direction.
“I think it’s going to work out very well and if it doesn’t, I’m going to head back home real fast,” Trump said in an interview.
Baier reportedly asked: “I mean, if it doesn’t, you walk?”
Trump responded: “I would walk, yeah.”
Earlier, Trump said he wanted to see a ceasefire in Ukraine “today”.
Both the US and Russian presidents, who are meeting at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska’s largest city, are seeking wins.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited to the talks, and his European allies fear Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognising, if only informally, Russian control over one-fifth of Ukraine.
Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial swaps.
“I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I’m here to get them at a table,” he said.
Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: “I want to see a ceasefire rapidly… I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today… I want the killing to stop.”
Trump, who casts the war as a “bloodbath”, is pressing for a truce in the 3.5-year-old war that would bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.
For Putin, the summit is already a big win as he can use it to say that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unravelled and that Moscow has retaken its rightful place at the top table of international diplomacy.
Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev described the pre-summit mood as “combative” and said the two leaders would discuss not only Ukraine but the full spectrum of bilateral relations, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.
In a symbolic gesture en route for Alaska, Putin laid flowers on Friday at a memorial in Russia’s Far East commemorating US-Soviet cooperation in World War Two.
Trump, who once said he would end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours, conceded on Thursday it had proven a tougher nut to crack than he thought.
He said that if talks went well, quickly arranging a second three-way summit with Zelensky would be even more important than his encounter with Putin.
Zelensky said Russia was continuing to attack Ukraine ahead of a summit.
“On the day of the negotiations, they also kill people. And that says a lot,” Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app.
Earlier, Ukrainian regional officials said Russia had launched a ballistic missile into Dnipropetrovsk region in eastern Ukraine, killing one person and wounding at least one other.
One source acquainted with Kremlin thinking said there were signs Moscow could be ready to strike a compromise on Ukraine, given that Putin understood Russia’s economic vulnerability and costs of continuing the war.
“He is a smart guy, been doing it for a long time but so have I… We get along, there’s a good respect level on both sides,” Trump said, describing Putin.
Reuters has previously reported that Putin might be willing to freeze the conflict along the front lines, provided there was a legally binding pledge not to enlarge NATO eastwards and to lift some Western sanctions.
Russia, whose war economy is showing signs of strain, is vulnerable to further US sanctions.
Ukrainians who spoke to Reuters in central Kyiv on Friday were not optimistic about the Alaska summit.
“Nothing good will happen there, because war is war, it will not end. The territories — we’re not going to give anything to anyone,” said Tetiana Harkavenko, a 65-year-old cleaner.
-with AAP
Live News
