Russian President Putin speeches during their joint press conference with U.S. Persident Donald Trump after their meeing on war in Ukraine at U.S. Air Base In Alaska on August 15, 2025, in Anchorage,

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia met Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, for the first face-to-face meeting between American and Russian leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.

One key party not be in attendance Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump said after his meeting with the Russian president that he would call Zelenskyy and update him on the talks.

It was a welcome tailored for a close friend, not a war criminal, and it looked to the Ukrainians like their nightmare.

One of the documents indicated Trump planned to give the Russian president an “American Bald Eagle Desk Statue.”

The arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will mark a rare occasion when the Kremlin leader will set foot on American soil. Putin, who is due to land in Anchorage later on Friday, hasn’t visited the U.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was not invited to the Trump-Putin summit in Anchorage, but 1,000 Ukrainian refugees in Alaska will be watching with trepidation.