Trump-Putin meeting live updates: Leaders shake hands in Alaska as talks on Russia-Ukraine war begin

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov will be joining Putin in his conversation with Trump, RIA Novosti, a Russian state news agency, said, according to the Associated Press. RIA Novosti got the names from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Putin, Lavrov and Ushakov will meet with Trump, Rubio and Witkoff soon.

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged from their respective planes and proceeded down an L-shaped red carpet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, before meeting for a handshake.

At 11:07 a.m. local time, Trump deplaned first from Air Force One. Putin followed seconds later. Trump waited for Putin to approach him for the handshake; he briefly applauded as Putin got closer. The two exchanged words for several seconds before walking together toward reporters and posing for a side-by-side photo op while American fighter jets flew overhead.

The two leaders then entered the U.S. presidential limo (nicknamed “The Beast”) to ride together to today’s summit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has landed in Anchorage, Alaska.

Air Force One touched down about 30 minutes ago at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the military base in Anchorage where President Trump will meet with Putin this afternoon. Trump has been greeting Alaska lawmakers on board as he awaits Putin’s arrival.

As Air Force One lands in Anchorage, the White House has revealed that the president’s meeting will no longer be a one-on-one between the two leaders, as reported all week, but rather a “three-on-three.”

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be in the room with Trump and Putin.

It is unclear which Russian officials will join them.

Witkoff has met with Putin five times this year; they have reportedly discussed broader issues such as land swaps and rare earth minerals. Rubio has long been considered more “hawkish” on Russia.

Trump has landed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the military base in Anchorage, where he will meet with Putin this afternoon, the Associated Press reported.

A room has been set up where Trump and Putin plan to hold a joint press conference after their private meeting.

The plan is for the two leaders to meet, have lunch and then address the press together, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Thursday.

There are two podiums on stage, and the backdrop says “Pursuing Peace,” according to a photo shared by CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins.

So far, the possibility of a ceasefire has been one of the biggest sticking points in efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, have repeatedly said that fighting must pause before negotiations begin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected that position as his troops make advances on the battlefield.

But President Trump now says he wants a ceasefire “today.”

“I want to see a ceasefire, rapidly. I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “Everyone said it can’t be today, but I’m just saying I want the killing to stop.”

Earlier this week, President Trump agreed to “five principles” for today’s talks with Vladimir Putin, according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

But what are those five principles? Here’s what Merz told reporters:

1. Ukraine should be at the table for any future meeting with Putin.
2. A ceasefire should be the first step, before any negotiations begin.
3. Recognition of territories occupied by Russia is not on the table.
4. Ukrainian forces should be free to defend the sovereignty of their country, with European support.
5. The broader negotiations should be part of a “transatlantic-wide strategy … based on supporting Ukraine and exerting pressure on Russia.”

European leaders (including Zelensky) will likely reject any agreement that emerges from Alaska if it doesn’t adhere to these guidelines.

Trump told Fox News host Bret Baier on Air Force One that if the conversation with Putin doesn’t go well, he would immediately fly home.

“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 a clip that was shared on Baier’s Instagram.

“If it doesn’t, you walk?” Baier asked.

“I would walk,” Trump said.

Baier’s presummit interview with Trump will air on Fox News tonight at 6 p.m. ET. Fox News host Sean Hannity will interview Trump after the summit, around 9 p.m. ET.

One major concern expressed by European leaders ahead of Trump’s summit with Putin is that the Russian leader will tempt his American counterpart into favoring Moscow during possible peace negotiations by seeking to cut side deals with him.

For instance, Putin is bringing a business delegation to Anchorage — a signal that American access to rare earths, critical minerals and other Russian assets will be on the table during talks there.

“Clearly, Mr. Putin has studied how talk of commercial opportunities provokes Mr. Trump’s developer instincts — and most likely are far more important, to Mr. Trump’s mind, than the fate of parts of Ukraine,” David Sanger of the New York Times wrote in an analysis published Friday.

Putin has also mentioned a potential nuclear agreement to replace New START, the most recent arms accord between Washington and Moscow, which is set to expire in February.

But while Trump said earlier this week that he would be considering other “incentives and disincentives,” he seemed to rebuff Putin’s overtures en route to Alaska this morning.

“I notice he’s bringing a lot of businesspeople from Russia, and that’s good, I like that because they want to do business,” the president told reporters. “But they’re not doing business until we get the war settled.”

En route to Alaska, President Trump addressed Russia’s recent attacks on Ukraine — including the launch of drone and missile strikes just hours before the summit.

“He thinks it gives him strength in negotiating,” Trump said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, per CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “I think it hurts him. But I’ll be talking to him about it later.”

Russia launched two ballistic missiles and dozens of drone strikes across Ukraine overnight, killing seven civilians and injuring 17 others, Ukrainian military officials said Friday.

Ahead of the summit, Kirill Dmitriev, an economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, posted a video to his X account of a bear he said he spotted in Alaska.

“Met a bear in Alaska before the US-Russia Summit,” Dmitriev wrote, alongside a teddy bear emoji. “Hopefully a good sign.”

Americans are skeptical of President Trump’s approach to the war in Ukraine, according to a new Pew Research Poll released Thursday.

Ahead of today’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 59% of U.S. adults say they are not confident that Trump “can make wise decisions when it comes to the war.” Forty percent express confidence in Trump on this issue.

Americans are also more likely to say Trump is favoring Russia too much (33%) than to say he is favoring Ukraine too much (6%). Another (28%) say he is striking about the right balance.

Since Trump returned to the Oval Office earlier this year, the number of Americans who say the U.S. is providing “too much” support to Ukraine has fallen from 30% to 18%, while the number who say the U.S. is not providing enough support has risen from 22% to 29%.

President Trump has made no secret of his desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize — and as he heads to Alaska Friday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, one of his bitterest rivals, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has offered to help.

“Honestly, if [Trump] could bring about the end to this terrible war,” Clinton told the Raging Moderates podcast in an interview released Friday, “I’d nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize.”

Trump’s 2016 presidential election opponent did not dangle her offer without preconditions. According to Clinton, Trump would have to end the war “without putting Ukraine in a position where it had to concede its territory to the aggressor — had to, in a way, validate Putin’s vision of greater Russia.” Instead, Trump would have to “really stand up to Putin, to make it clear there must be a ceasefire.”

That’s “something we haven’t seen,” she continued, “but maybe this is the opportunity.”

Expectations remain low for the sort of deal Clinton described. But Trump has continued to push for the Nobel Peace Prize in recent weeks, citing his work facilitating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May. Trump also reportedly called the finance minister of Norway last month to ask about his nomination, the Norwegian press reported.

All told, Trump has posted about the prize seven times on his Truth Social site since his second term began, according to NBC News — six of them in June and July.

The meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, in Anchorage, Alaska, is expected to last several hours. Just how many depends on which side you listen to.

According to CNN, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, told Russian state television that he expects the summit to last “at least six to seven hours.”

According to the official schedule from the White House, Trump is due to depart from Anchorage at 9:45 p.m. ET, roughly seven hours after the sit-down was scheduled to begin.

Trump told reporters earlier this week that if the meeting “goes OK, we’ll have a quick second one” with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, perhaps even while they’re in Alaska.

“I would like to do it almost immediately,” Trump said.

But Trump also said he’d know “probably in the first two minutes” whether a peace deal can be made.

Putin is set to land in Anchorage, Alaska, at 11 a.m. AKST (3 p.m. ET), his spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, told Russian state television, according to the New York Times. The White House previously said that Trump and Putin’s meeting would begin at 3 p.m. ET, while the Kremlin said it would likely start 30 minutes after that.

On his way to the summit, President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that his role in the meeting with Putin was not to do Ukraine’s bidding.

“I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine,” Trump said, according to CNN.

The president said “maybe” when asked if the U.S. would put security guarantees for Ukraine on the table in Alaska.

But Trump also made clear that there would be no discussion of Ukraine joining NATO.

“There are certain things that aren’t going to happen,” he said.

Ahead of the meeting between Trump and Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expects to receive an intelligence report on Russia’s intentions for the meeting and that Ukraine is “ready, as always, to work as productively as possible” toward ending the war.

“The key thing is that this meeting should open up a real path toward a just peace and a substantive discussion between leaders in a trilateral format — Ukraine, the United States, and the Russian side,” Zelensky wrote on X Friday morning. “It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America.”

“Indeed, high stakes,” Zelensky added, likely a reference to Trump’s Truth Social post from early Friday morning.

En route to Alaska aboard Air Force One, President Trump announced that he had just spoken with Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus and one of Putin’s top allies.

“I had a wonderful talk with the highly respected President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The president said the purpose of the call was “to thank him for the release of 16 prisoners” and to discuss “the release of 1,300 additional prisoners.”

“Our conversation was a very good one,” Trump added. “We discussed many topics, including President Putin’s visit to Alaska. I look forward to meeting President Lukashenko in the future.”

Earlier, Trump posted a two-word message to Truth Social ahead of his sit-down with Putin: “HIGH STAKES!!!”