B-2, fighter jets fly over as Trump-Putin summit begins

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin kicked off their Alaska summit with a warm handshake on Friday, greeting each other like old friends before heading into hours of discussions that could reshape the war in Ukraine and relations between Moscow and Washington.

After descending from Air Force One, Trump applauded as Putin approached along a red carpet. They gripped hands for an extended period of time, with both men smiling, and Putin eventually grinned and pointed skyward, where B-2s and F-22s — military aircraft designed to oppose Russia during the Cold War — flew overhead to mark the moment at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Reporters nearby yelled, “President Putin, will you stop killing civilians?” and Russia’s leader put his hand up to his ear but didn’t answer. Trump and Putin then both climbed in the U.S. presidential limo, with Putin grinning widely as the vehicle rolled past the cameras.

WATCH🔴 A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber and four F-35 fighter jets fly over Presidents Putin and Trump on the red carpet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. pic.twitter.com/2BGp5DqQ22 — Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 15, 2025

WATCH🔴 A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber and four F-35 fighter jets fly over Presidents Putin and Trump on the red carpet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. pic.twitter.com/2BGp5DqQ22

The pair’s chumminess, while not altogether surprising considering their longtime friendly relationship , was striking given the bloodshed and suffering in the war Putin started in Ukraine — the biggest land war in Europe since World War II. It was likely to raise concerns from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, who fear that Trump will primarily focus on furthering U.S. interests and fail to press hard for Ukraine’s.

Zelenskyy and European leaders were excluded from Friday’s meeting, and Ukraine’s president was left posting a video address in which he expressed his hope for a “strong position from the U.S.”

“Everyone wants an honest end to the war. Ukraine is ready to work as productively as possible to end the war,” he said, later adding, “The war continues and it continues precisely because there is no order, nor any signals from Moscow, that it is preparing to end this war.”

The summit was a chance for Trump to prove he’s a master dealmaker and peacemaker. He and his allies have cast him as a heavyweight negotiator who can find a way to bring the slaughter to a close — something he used to boast he could do quickly.

For Putin, it was an opportunity to try to negotiate a deal that would cement Russia’s gains, block Kyiv’s bid to join the NATO military alliance and eventually pull Ukraine back into Moscow’s orbit.

Not meeting one-on-one anymore

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the previously planned one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin was now a three-on-three discussion including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Putin was joined by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov.

The change indicates that the White House is taking a more guarded approach than it did during a 2018 meeting in Helsinki, when Trump and Putin met privately just with their interpreters for two hours and where Trump shocked the world by siding with the Russian leader over U.S. intelligence officials on whether Russia meddled in the 2016 campaign.

Trump and Putin began their discussions Friday by sitting with their aides in front of a blue backdrop printed with “Alaska” and “Pursuing Peace.” Putin and Trump are expected to hold a joint press conference at the end of the summit.

There are significant risks for Trump. By bringing Putin onto U.S. soil — America bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for roughly 2 cents per acre — the president is giving him the validation he desires after his ostracization following his invasion of Ukraine 3 1/2 years ago. Zelenskyy’s exclusion is a heavy blow to the West’s policy of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” and invites the possibility that Trump could agree to a deal that Ukraine does not want.

Any success is far from assured since Russia and Ukraine remain far apart in their demands for peace. Putin has long resisted any temporary ceasefire, linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies and a freeze on Ukraine’s mobilization efforts, which are conditions rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies.

Trump said earlier in the week there was a 25% chance that the summit would fail, but he also floated the idea that if the meeting succeeds he could bring Zelenskyy to Alaska for a subsequent meeting with himself and Putin.

Trump has also expressed doubts about getting an immediate ceasefire, but he has wanted a broad peace deal done quickly. That seemingly echoes Putin’s longtime argument that Russia favors a comprehensive deal to end the fighting, reflecting its demands, and not a temporary halt to hostilities.

Trump has offered shifting explanations for his meeting goals

Trump previously characterized the sit-down as “ “really a feel-out meeting.” But he’s also warned of “very severe consequences” for Russia if Putin doesn’t agree to end the war .

Trump said before arriving in Alaska that his talks with Putin will include Russian demands that Ukraine cede territory as part of a peace deal. He said Ukraine has to decide, but he also suggested Zelenskyy should accept concessions.

“I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision. And I think they’ll make a proper decision,” Trump told reporters traveling with him to Alaska.

Trump said there’s “a possibility” of the United States offering Ukraine security guarantees alongside European powers, “but not in the form of NATO.” Putin has fiercely resisted Ukraine joining the trans-Atlantic security alliance, a long-term goal for Ukrainians seeking to forge stronger ties with the West.

Gen. Alexus Grynkewich , NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, is in Alaska to provide “military advice” to Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to a senior NATO military official who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. His presence is likely to be welcomed by European leaders who have tried to convince Trump to be firm with Putin and not deal over Kyiv’s head.

Potentially far-reaching implications

Foreign governments are watching closely to see how Trump reacts to Putin, likely gauging what the interaction might mean for their own dealings with the U.S. president, who has eschewed traditional diplomacy for his own transactional approach to relationships.

The meeting comes as the war has caused heavy losses on both sides and drained resources. Ukraine has held on far longer than some initially expected since the February 2022 invasion, but it is straining to hold off Russia’s much larger army, grappling with bombardments of its cities and fighting for every inch on the over 600-mile front line.

Alaska is separated from Russia at its closest point by just 3 miles and the international date line.

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was crucial to countering the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It continues to play a role today, as planes from the base still intercept Russian aircraft that regularly fly into U.S. airspace.

Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Jonathan J. Cooper in Washington, Elise Morton in London and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

阿拉斯加州埃尔门多夫-理查森联合基地——周五，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普和俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京在阿拉斯加举行峰会，两人热情握手，像老朋友一样互相问候，随后展开了数小时的讨论，这些讨论可能会重塑乌克兰战争以及莫斯科和华盛顿之间的关系。

特朗普走下空军一号后，普京沿着红毯走来，特朗普鼓掌致意。两人长时间握手，面带微笑。普京最后咧嘴一笑，指向天空。此时，B-2轰炸机和F-22战斗机——冷战时期为对抗俄罗斯而设计的军用飞机——飞越埃尔门多夫-理查森联合基地上空，共同见证这一时刻。

附近的记者们高喊：“普京总统，您能停止杀害平民吗？”俄罗斯领导人把手放在耳边，但没有回答。随后，特朗普和普京都登上了美国总统座驾，车辆驶过镜头时，普京咧嘴一笑。

观看🔴 一架B-2“幽灵”隐形轰炸机和四架F-35战斗机飞越位于阿拉斯加州安克雷奇埃尔门多夫-理查森联合基地红毯上的普京总统和特朗普总统。 pic.twitter.com/2BGp5DqQ22 — Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 15, 2025

观看🔴 一架B-2“幽灵”隐形轰炸机和四架F-35战斗机飞越位于阿拉斯加州安克雷奇埃尔门多夫-理查森联合基地红毯上的普京总统和特朗普总统。 pic.twitter.com/2BGp5DqQ22

考虑到两人长期以来的友好关系，他们的亲密举动虽然并不完全令人意外，但鉴于普京在乌克兰发动的战争——二战以来欧洲规模最大的陆地战争——所造成的流血和苦难，仍然引人注目。这很可能引起乌克兰总统泽连斯基和欧洲领导人的担忧，他们担心特朗普会主要关注推进美国利益，而忽视乌克兰的利益。

泽连斯基和欧洲领导人被排除在周五的会议之外，乌克兰总统只能发布一段视频讲话，表达他对“美国采取强硬立场”的希望。

“每个人都希望战争能够体面地结束。乌克兰已准备好尽一切努力结束战争，”他说道，随后又补充道，“战争仍在继续，正是因为莫斯科既没有下达任何命令，也没有任何信号表明它准备结束这场战争。”

这次峰会是特朗普证明自己是谈判高手和和平缔造者的机会。他和他的盟友把他塑造成一位重量级谈判者，能够找到结束这场屠杀的方法——他过去常常吹嘘自己能迅速做到这一点。

对普京而言，这是一个尝试谈判达成协议的机会，以巩固俄罗斯的既得利益，阻止基辅加入北约军事联盟，并最终将乌克兰拉回莫斯科的势力范围。

不再进行一对一会面

白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特表示，原定于1989年举行的特朗普与普京的单独会晤，现已改为三方会谈，国务卿马可·卢比奥和特使史蒂夫·威特科夫也将出席。普京的会晤则由外交部长谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫和外交事务顾问尤里·乌沙科夫陪同。

这一变化表明，白宫采取了比 2018 年在赫尔辛基会晤时更加谨慎的做法。当时，特朗普和普京仅与翻译进行了两个小时的私下会晤，特朗普在俄罗斯是否干预 2016 年大选的问题上站在俄罗斯领导人一边，而不是站在美国情报官员一边，这震惊了世界。

周五，特朗普和普京与各自的助手在印有“阿拉斯加”和“追求和平”字样的蓝色背景前开始会谈。预计普京和特朗普将在峰会结束后举行联合新闻发布会。

特朗普面临着巨大的风险。他邀请普京踏上美国领土——美国在1867年以每英亩约2美分的价格从俄罗斯手中购得阿拉斯加——此举无疑是在给予普京他渴望已久的认可，此前普京因三年半前入侵乌克兰而遭到孤立。泽连斯基被排除在外，是对西方“没有乌克兰参与，就不要谈论乌克兰”政策的沉重打击，也增加了特朗普可能同意一项乌克兰不愿接受的协议的可能性。

任何成功都远未可知，因为俄罗斯和乌克兰在和平诉求上仍存在巨大分歧。普京长期以来一直反对任何临时停火，并将其与西方停止武器供应和冻结乌克兰动员行动挂钩，而这些条件均遭到基辅及其西方盟友的拒绝。

特朗普本周早些时候表示，峰会有 25% 的可能性会失败，但他同时也提出了一个想法，如果会晤成功，他可能会邀请泽连斯基前往阿拉斯加，与他和普京举行后续会晤。

特朗普也曾对能否立即停火表示怀疑，但他一直希望尽快达成一项全面的和平协议。这似乎与普京长期以来的立场相呼应，即俄罗斯倾向于达成一项全面结束冲突、反映其诉求的协议，而不是暂时停止敌对行动。

特朗普对其实现目标给出了前后矛盾的解释

特朗普此前将这次会晤描述为“一次试探性会面”。但他同时也警告说，如果普京不同意结束战争，俄罗斯将面临“非常严重的后果”。

特朗普在抵达阿拉斯加前表示，他与普京的会谈将包括俄罗斯提出的要求，即乌克兰必须割让领土作为和平协议的一部分。他说，乌克兰必须做出决定，但他同时也暗示泽连斯基应该接受一些让步。

“我必须让乌克兰自己做出决定。我认为他们会做出正确的决定，”特朗普在前往阿拉斯加的途中告诉随行记者。

特朗普表示，美国“有可能”与欧洲大国一道向乌克兰提供安全保障，“但不会以北约的形式”。普京一直强烈反对乌克兰加入跨大西洋安全联盟，而加入北约是乌克兰寻求与西方建立更紧密联系的长期目标。

据一位不愿透露姓名的北约高级军事官员称，北约欧洲盟军最高司令阿莱克西斯·格林克维奇将军正在阿拉斯加向特朗普总统和国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯提供“军事建议”。这位官员未获授权公开谈论此事。格林克维奇将军的到访可能会受到欧洲领导人的欢迎，他们一直试图说服特朗普对普京采取强硬立场，不要绕过基辅进行谈判。

可能产生深远影响

外国政府正密切关注特朗普对普京的反应，很可能是在评估这种互动对他们自己与美国总统的交往意味着什么。特朗普摒弃了传统的外交方式，转而采取交易式的外交手段来处理人际关系。

此次会晤正值战争给双方造成惨重损失并耗尽资源之际。自2022年2月入侵以来，乌克兰的抵抗时间远超一些人最初的预期，但它仍在竭力抵挡俄罗斯规模远超自身的军队，不仅要应对城市遭受的炮火轰炸，还要在长达600多英里的前线寸土必争。

阿拉斯加与俄罗斯最近的地方只有3英里，中间是国际日期变更线。

埃尔门多夫-理查森联合基地在冷战期间对遏制苏联至关重要。时至今日，它依然发挥着作用，该基地的飞机仍然会拦截经常闯入美国领空的俄罗斯飞机。

魏瑟特从华盛顿报道。美联社记者马修·李和乔纳森·J·库珀（华盛顿）、伊莉丝·莫顿（伦敦）和弗拉基米尔·伊萨琴科夫（莫斯科）对本报道亦有贡献。