Trump and Putin set for Alaska showdown as sidelined Zelensky waits to discover Ukraine’s fate: Live updates

Donald Trump issued a warning to Vladimir Putin just moments after boarding Air Force One to head to their ‘high-stakes’ summit in Alaska.

The President told reporters Russia ran the risk of ‘very severe’ economic sanctions if Putin stalled on talks to end the three-year war in Ukraine.

He also said America would not do any business with Russia until the conflict is settled.

Trump added that Ukraine would take a leading role on any land swap negotiations and that the US could be involved in security guarantees going forward.

The remarks come ahead of a summit in Alaska, where Trump and Putin will meet face-to-face for the first time in six years.

All the timings you need to know ahead of today’s summit in Alaska:

• 6:45am ET (11.45am UK time)

Trump is expected to leave the White House for Anchorage which is estimated to be between a seven and eight hour flight. It is unknown when Putin will depart from Moscow for the Alaska’s largest city. Flight time will be around nine hours.

• 3.30pm ET (8:30pm UK time)

The leaders are scheduled to begin face-to-face talks at a ‘working breakfast’ in the the Elmendorf Air Force Base, the largest US military installation in Alaska and a Cold War base for surveillance of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin has said a press conference will take place following the talks

• 9.45pm ET (2:45am UK time)

Trump is expected to leave Anchorage and return to the White House

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, who is joining Putin in Alaska, described the mood ahead of the meeting as ‘combative,’ according to Russia’s RIA news agency.

Earlier on Friday, Dmitriev agreed with Donald Trump’s description of the event as ‘HIGH STAKES.’

He shared an image of Trump’s Truth Social post on X and said, ‘True.’

President Donald Trump spoke with Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko moments before his pre-summit interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier.

A photo posted by Baier shows Trump sitting in his office on board Air Force One on the phone with the foreign leader.

The president stated in a post on Truth Social that he thanked the Belarus leader for releasing 16 prisoners prior to his summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

I had a wonderful talk with the highly respected President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko. The purpose of the call was to thank him for the release of 16 prisoners. We are also discussing the release of 1,300 additional prisoners. Our conversation was a very good one. We discussed many topics, including President Putin’s visit to Alaska. I look forward to meeting President Lukashenko in the future. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

It is highly unlikely Vladimir Putin will be arrested once he lands on American soil, despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) having a warrant out for him.

In 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

However, the United States is not a member of the ICC and is not legally bound to enforce the warrant.

The US participated in the negotiations of the Rome Statute, which led to the creation of the court.

In 2000, President Bill Clinton signed the Rome Statute, but did not submit the treaty to the Senate for ratification, which would have made it legally binding.

President George W Bush officially ended US involvement with the ICC in 2002, telling the United Nations that the US no longer intended to ratify the treaty and that it did not have any obligations toward it.

Phillip Nieto, U.S. political reporter:

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a brief behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming interview between President Donald Trump and Fox News host Bret Baier on her Instagram story.

The interview is taking place on Air Force One hours before Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the bloody Ukraine war.

Following his meeting with Putin, Trump is expected to have a sit-down interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Friday evening.

Hundreds of Alaskans took part in demonstrations last night to pledge support for Ukraine ahead of the meeting between Trump and Putin in the state’s largest city Anchorage.

Demonstrators dressed in yellow and blue and armed with Ukrainian flags and placards gathered at the intersection of the Seward Highway and Northern Lights Boulevard.

Once there they elicited honks and cheers from drivers during rush hour traffic. More protests are expected today in the city including a pro-Trump rally.

Former Vice President Mike Pence called for President Trump to achieve a peace deal during his meeting with Putin today.

‘Praying for President Trump to Stand Strong in Alaska Today. A Ceasefire followed by a Just and Lasting Peace will only come through American Strength,’ he said on X.

Vladimir Putin is scheduled to arrive at 11.00am local time, 3pm ET, on Friday in Anchorage, where he will be greeted by Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Russian state TV.

During his four-hour flight from Magadan in Russia’s Far East to the US, Putin will review materials on Ukraine, bilateral tensions, economic cooperation and global affairs, according to Peskov.

CNN reported that Peskov said on the plane, ‘The president always makes it (on time).’

However, the Russian president has a reputation for being notoriously late for meetings and once kept Pope Francis waiting for nearly an hour during a visit to the Vatican in 2013.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has suggested that if Donald Trump brokers a successful Ukraine-Russia peace deal that he should win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two presidents will meet at a U.S. Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska, for a sit-down meeting to broker peace.

Clinton’s surprising take on Jessica Tarlov’s ‘Raging Moderates’ podcast occurred just as the president departed Washington, D.C., to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

Seen as the ‘token liberal’ on the network’s popular show ‘The Five,’ Trump has taken several shots at the host over the years. Most recently, Trump slammed Tarlov as ‘a real loser’ after she went on a tangent advocating for stricter gun controls.

Clinton told Tarlov, who is a Democrat, that if Trump ‘could bring about the end to this terrible war,’ she’d consider nominating him for the highly-coveted prize.

by Mark Galeotti for the Daily Mail

Vladimir Putin is a savvy Trump-whisperer. He knows exactly what flavours of flattery to employ, what enticements to offer.

The US President is arguably the most powerful and influential leader in the world, but he craves the approval of his peers. He admires Putin’s strong-man image and wants to be a member of that club.

Putin is not the grandmaster of three-dimensional chess that some pundits make him out to be. But simply by setting foot on American soil today, he will be the winner in a high-stakes geopolitical game.

Read the full comment piece by Mark Galeotti here:

While Donald Trump is in the air flying to Alaska, Vladimir Putin has made a quick pit stop in the Russian city of Magadan in the far east of the country.

Perched on the Sea of Okhotsk, Putin has been pictured visiting a factory in the city and meeting young hockey players ahead of his summit with Trump later today.

The Russian President also laid flowers at a memorial commemorating US-Soviet cooperation during the Second World War.

Officials have announced Putin will be greeted on the runway in Anchorage by Trump when he touches down at around 11am local time (3pm ET and 8pm UK time).

Earlier today, President Trump was asked about the controversial idea of land swaps, where Ukraine and Russia would exchange land as a part of a compromise, the president said that would be up to Zelensky and his government.

‘I’d have to let Ukraine decide,’ Trump responded.

After launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia controls nearly 114,500 square km (44,600 square miles), or 19%, of Ukraine, including Crimea, and a major chunk of territory in the east and south-east of the country, according to open source maps of the battlefield.

Ukraine does not control any internationally recognised Russian territory.

Russia says Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – which were recognised by Moscow as part of Ukraine as the Soviet Union collapsed – are now parts of Russia.

Ukraine has repeatedly said it will never recognise Russian occupation of its land, and most countries recognise Ukraine’s territory within its 1991 borders.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

The Russian government has announced that President Vladimir Putin will land in Anchorage, Alaska, and immediately be greeted by Donald Trump.

Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov (pictured below) shared that the Russian leader will arrive at 11am local time.

President Trump will meet him on the runway, the report indicates.

The two will then kick off their high-stakes meeting shortly after.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a sneak peek of her breakfast aboard Air Force One as she joined the president on his trip to Alaska.

Leavitt, 27, posted a picture of her meal on Instagram shortly after taking off from Washington, D.C.

‘Chicken and waffles aboard AF1!’ she wrote.

Her breakfast assortment showed a fried egg with chives, chicken and waffles, a fruit cup and a coffee.

All White House staff have to foot their own food bill aboard AF1.

Trump and Putin’s meeting marks the first by the American and Russian leaders since the US President returned to the White House in January.

But what are both men trying to achieve in Alaska?

The US President is pressing for a truce in the three-and-a-half year war that would bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump, who once said he would end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours, conceded this week that the conflict, Europe’s biggest land war since World War Two, had proven a tougher nut to crack than he had thought.

He said that if his talks with Putin went well, quickly setting up a subsequent three-way summit with Zelenskiy would be even more important than his encounter with Putin.

For Putin, the summit is a big win before it even starts as he can use it to say that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unravelled and that Moscow has been returned to its rightful place at the top table of international diplomacy.

The Russian President has long been keen to talk to Trump face-to-face without Ukraine and may hope the US can help in the lifting of economic sanctions placed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy demanded on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that Ukraine have a say in any peace deal President Trump tries to land with Russia.

‘I think the most important element of that just peace is that it is a negotiation between Ukraine and Russia, not a negotiation between the United States and Russia,’ Murphy said.

The Connecticut senator also shared that any deal would have to involve a U.S.-backed security guarantee.

‘Trump is clearly not willing to empower Zelensky to be in that negotiation with Putin,’ the Democrat said.

When the Trump-Putin summit gets underway in Alaska later, there will be a missing an integral partner in any peace deal: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky, who has visited European leaders this week in the run-up to today’s talks, has firmly rejected any land swaps with Russia, including Crimea and Donbas, due to constitutional prohibitions and the belief that ceding territory only benefits Russia strategically.

Zelensky and European allies emphasize that peace talks must include Ukraine and affirm that territorial changes by coercion are unacceptable.

While Trump has proposed a potential swapping of territories to end the war, Zelensky has characterized that idea as ‘dead.’

European leaders have echoed Zelensky’s stance, emphasizing that Ukraine must determine its future and warning against being cut out of discussions, as they could demand harsher terms on Russia than Trump might.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country is ‘counting on America’ as Donald Trump heads to his Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin.

Writing on X, Zelensky agreed with Trump’s assessment today’s talks are ‘high stakes’ as he awaits to learn the outcome of the summit later tonight.

Today, I also expect a report from our intelligence on the current intentions of the Russian side and its preparations for the meeting in Alaska. Indeed, high stakes. 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. It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America. We are ready, as always, to work as productively as possible.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

While speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump disclosed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be accompanied by a group of business leaders.

‘I noticed he’s bringing a lot of business people from Russia, and that’s good,’ Trump said.

Between the U.S. and Russia, there’s a ‘good respect level on both sides,’ the president added.

The president has taken a hands-on approach to business in recent weeks

He struck a deal with chipmaker NVIDIA to have the U.S. profit off their sales to China, and Trump this week met with Intel’s CEO after calling for him to resign.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

Hillary Clinton has suggested that if Donald Trump brokers a successful Ukraine-Russia peace deal that he should win the Nobel Prize.

‘Honestly, if he could bring about the end to this terrible war… if he could end it without putting Ukraine in a position where it had to concede its territory to the aggressor… could really stand up to Putin, something we haven’t seen, but maybe this is the opportunity… If President Trump were the architect of that, I’d nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize,’ Clinton said on a Fox News host’s podcast, Mediaite reported.

‘Because my goal here is to not allow capitulation to Putin,’ the former Secretary of State added.

However, it is unclear whether a peace deal is close, and even more opaque is what Ukraine’s potential involvement in the negotiations will be.

Here’s a picture of President Trump speaking to reporters on board Air Force One at the start of his seven-hour flight to Alaska to meet Vladimir Putin.

He told journalists that Russia faces ‘very severe’ consequences if Vladimir Putin is not serious about a peace deal in Ukraine and that Ukraine would play a leading role in any negotiations over territory.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

President Trump also addressed Ukraine’s role in negotiating a peace with Russia.

Asked about the controversial idea of land swaps, where Ukraine and Russia would exchange land as a part of a compromise, the president said that would be up to Zelensky and his government.

‘I’d have to let Ukraine decide,’ Trump responded.

The Republican also shot down having Ukraine join NATO. Instead, Trump suggested that the U.S. could work out another defense framework with the country.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One about his upcoming meeting with Putin.

Trump threatened sanctions when pressed by a journalist about what consequences the Russian president could face if he stalls on negotiations to end his offensive in Ukraine.

‘Economically severe, yes, it will be very severe,’ Trump said.

‘I’m not doing this for my health. Okay, I don’t need it,’ he continued.

‘I’d like to focus on our country, but I’m doing this to save a lot of lives. Yeah, very severe. Thank you very much, everybody.’

Here’s footage of the moment Donald Trump climbed the stairs leading to Air Force One as he boarded his aircraft to head to Alaska.

The US President arrived at Joint Andrews Base in Maryland later than expected as he travels to Anchorage to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Here are some more pictures of the moment Donald Trump boarded Air Force One as he flies to Alaska to meet Vladimir Putin.

Trump waved before entering the aircraft at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland as he prepares to meet the Russian leader in Anchorage.

The flight to Alaska’s largest city is expected to take between seven and eight hours.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

President Donald Trump has boarded Air Force One.

The 79-year-old Republican took the long walk up the red stairs before turning to give a wave before heading into the aircraft.

He arrived at the presidential plane a few minutes before 8:00 am ET.

Before entering AF1, Trump told reporters that his number one goal is to ‘save lives.’

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

President Donald Trump and his team are en route to Joint Base Andrews.

The president’s longtime aide, Dan Scavino, posted a video of the presidential limousine, nicknamed the Beast, rolling through Washington, D.C., towards the airport.

‘Another historic day begins—President Trump departs Washington, D.C. for Alaska,’ Scavino wrote.

Another video from Trump aide Margo Martin shows the motorcade zipping down a D.C. freeway with helicopters watching the procession from overhead.

Russia has flipped Donald Trump ‘a middle finger the size of the Statue of Liberty’ after Vladimir Putin’s right hand man arrived for peace talks in a t-shirt glorifying the Soviet Union.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Alaska with the letters CCCP clearly scrawled across his front – the Russian acronym for the USSR.

He was seen walking out of his car in the Russian designer top before brazenly conducting interviews with the media in it, ahead of crunch talks between Putin and Donald Trump to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian diplomats, soldiers and citizens reacted with fury to the highly provocative move that came just hours after Mr Trump bragged that Putin ‘is not going to mess around with me’.

Oleg T, 33, a special forces soldier who is fighting in eastern Ukraine, told the Mail: ‘That’s not a message – it is trolling the Americans. It is a middle finger the size of the Statue of Liberty. If Trump doesn’t see that, then he has chosen to be blind.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

A cast of top White House staffers is also expected to travel with President Trump to Alaska in addition to some Cabinet members.

• Susie Wiles
• Dan Scavino
• Steven Cheung
• Karoline Leavitt
• Ambassador Steve Witkoff
• Ambassador Monica Crowley

Several other White House staffers will also be traveling to Alaska.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

President Trump is expected to arrive at Joint Base Andrews momentarily.

Video feeds show that Air Force One is prepared and ready to fly.

The president left the White House via motorcade around 7:30 am ET.

Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent:

President Donald Trump said Thursday that there’s a ’25 percent’ chance his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is a failure.

Trump gave those odds during a phone interview Thursday morning with Brian Kilmeade, as part of his Fox News radio show.

The president leaves first thing Friday for his meeting with Putin, which is taking place in Anchorage, Alaska.

Trump played coy when asked by Kilmeade what he might offer Putin to entice him to stop his three and a half year assault on neighboring Ukraine.

‘Well, I’d rather not say,’ the president answered. ‘Because I don’t want to play my hand in public.’

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

President Donald Trump is bringing some of his top Cabinet members to Alaska for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Fox News confirmed the following will be traveling with the president on Friday:

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick
• CIA Director John Ratcliffe

Phillip Nieto, U.S. Political Reporter:

When Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, most predict a loyal lieutenant and adept foreign policy expert will be by his side.

On regulated exchange and prediction market site Kalshi, 92 percent of users predicted Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be there with Trump when he sits across from the Russian authoritarian leader at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, in a bold attempt to end the bloody war in Ukraine.

But coming in a close second is Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who is deemed to be an 87 percent chance.

Witkoff, who has known Trump since the 1980s and plays golf with him, has earned the nickname the ‘Putin whisperer’ because he’s met with the Russian leader four times since January.

After Wikoff, Vice President JD Vance is third at 64 percent.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

President Donald Trump posted a brief message on Truth Social ahead of his journey to Alaska to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

‘HIGH STAKES!!!’ Trump wrote on his social media app.

The Republican is expected to depart from Washington within the next hour.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been spotted travelling to the Pacific Coast in an armoured limo ahead of his highly anticipated summit with Donald Trump in Alaska, with a massive convoy sweeping through sealed-off roads.

Footage shows a long line of black vehicles speeding along a road, flanked by flashing police cars and trailed by what appears to be an ambulance.

The tight security comes as Putin prepares to sit down with Trump on Friday for their first face-to-face meeting since 2018.

Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter:

MAGA firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene ridiculed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for authorizing drone strikes in Russia the day before President Trump and President Putin meet.

The lawmaker posted her displeasure with Zelensky late on Thursday evening, alongside a map supposedly showing recent drone strikes.

‘On the eve of the historic peace talks between President Trump and President Putin, Zelensky does this,’ MTG posted.

‘Zelensky doesn’t want peace and obviously is trying to sabotage President Trump’s heroic efforts to end the war in Ukraine. I pray peace prevails!’

Before leaving for the US, Putin had some warm words for Trump, praising his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, more than three years after Moscow launched its invasion.

After convening with his officials ahead of today’s summit, the Kremlin released a video in which Putin said the Trump administration was making ‘quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities’ and to ‘reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved.’

Putin also suggested ‘long-term conditions of peace’ could be reached under an agreement with the US on nuclear arms control.

However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov tamped down expectations for any breakthroughs from the summit.

Peskov said there were no plans to sign documents and that it would be a ‘big mistake’ to predict the outcome of the talks, according to the Interfax news outlet.

Speaking in the Oval Office on the eve of today’s summit, Trump insisted Putin ‘is not going to mess around with me’.

The President said he would be able to know if the meeting is likely to prove productive in the first few minutes, adding it could end ‘very quickly’ if it isn’t.

Asked if he felt Putin has a ‘strong hand’, Mr Trump said: ‘Well, he came to our country.’

He said he believes the dictator ‘would like to see a deal’ adding:

If I weren’t president, in my opinion, he would much rather take over all of Ukraine but I am president and he’s not going to mess around with me.

He also blamed Russia for the war, saying: ‘Everybody’s to blame, Putin is to blame, they’re all to blame.’

Earlier yesterday, he gave himself a 75 per cent chance of success in his one-on-one. He told Fox News:

This meeting sets up like a chess game. This meeting sets up a second meeting, but there is a 25 per cent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting.

Trump meets Putin today for talks filled with intrigue, fraught with risk and carrying the potential for serious consequences for the future of the grinding war in Ukraine.

Foreign policy experts exclusively tell the Daily Mail that Putin’s strategy in Anchorage on Friday will be to isolate Trump from Ukraine and Europe and turn the US from a loyal supporter into a mere bystander.

Whether Trump emerges from the meeting smitten, seething or skeptical will determine whether another meeting’s in the cards or if the president has finally reached the end of his patience with Putin’s three-and-a-half year invasion.

Given the stakes, experts say it’s no surprise the White House is furiously trying to tamp down expectations for any immediate progress and characterizing Friday as ‘feel-out’ session.

‘The Kremlin’s strategy in Ukraine is to reduce the conflict into a one-on-one matchup,’ said Peter Rough of the Hudson Institute. ‘Putin will want to sidestep US sanctions and rebuild relations with Trump … If he can drive a wedge between the US and Europe, all the better.’

Read our exclusive story here:

President Donald Trump is expected to depart the White House just before 7 am ET before flying roughly eight hours from Washington, D.C., to Anchorage, Alaska.

The Republican is scheduled to travel to Joint Base Andrews before boarding Air Force One.

If Trump speaks to the press before his departure, it would likely be from the tarmac of JBA.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage on what is an historic day as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska for a high-stakes summit which may signal the outcome of the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine.

After insisting he could bring a swift resolution to the conflict upon re-entering the White House in January this year, Trump will hope to secure a peace agreement with the Russian leader.

But one notable absentee from today’s talks in Anchorage is Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky who will be waiting nervously next to a phone tonight to hear the outcome.

Stick with us throughout the day as we bring you the latest news, analysis and reaction from our reporters in London and New York.