Landing, red carpet and presidential limousine
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have landed almost simultaneously with Anchorage, descending from the ladders of their respective presidential planes. After the official greeting on the red carpet, they shared a short journey aboard a presidential limousine known as “The Beast”. It is not a common practice for an American president to raise a foreign head of state on the official machine: this choice was noticed by the media. It seems that no interpreters were present on board, even if it is known that Putin speaks English at a good level and could have been able to directly exchange some phrase with Trump during the ten minutes of journey towards the sopmit headquarters.
Welcoming and gesture of American hunting
During the reception ceremony, the base was flying over by a B-2 bomber and four US fighters, in addition to the presence of F-22 Raptors parked next to the red carpet. Pentagon officials confirmed the flight of the jets. Trump accompanied Putin walking together towards Limousine, both smiling in front of the cameras and in the midst of very visible security.
While the two were on the stage for the ritual photos, however, some journalists tried to scream some questions to leaders. Someone asked Putin: “Will you stop killing civilians?”. And the Russian leader, perhaps to escape the question, brought his hand to his ear as if to say “I don’t feel”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmbzagnpu4m
Delegations and start -up of interviews: who was with Trump and Putin
At the beginning of the talks, Trump and Putin sat joined by their respective councilors. Next to Trump there were Marco Rubio (secretary of American state), Steve Witkoff (special correspondent). Alongside Putin, however, Sergei Lavrov (Russian Foreign Minister) and Yuri Ushakov (councilor for foreign policy) sat. Behind the presidents, in the room where the summit took place, a blue panel was clearly visible with the word “Pursuing Peace”. Before the start of the meeting, neither Trump nor Putin answered the questions of journalists, including the themes about the truce in Ukraine.
Themes in the center and reactions: Ukrainian penalties
The central question of the meeting is the Ukrainian crisis and the search for a possible respite or diplomatic solution. Trump said: “I’m not here to negotiate with Putin instead of Ukraine. I am here to take them to the table”. During the day, the American president had underlined that there would be “severe economic consequences” if the meeting had not had a good results and hoped “a ceasefire quickly”. On the Russian side, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: “The sanctions will certainly take away some of them, this is certain”. In the meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “There is no order, nor no signal from Moscow who is preparing to end this war … they are also killing the day of negotiations”.
Symbols and protests
The handshake between Trump and Putin, immortalized on the platform, was also the subject of particular attention for the position of the hands: in the official photo, Putin appeared with the back of the hand upwards, as happens in what is called “dominant handshake”. Immediately before, far from the platform, the two had instead created a more equal close. In the city of Anchorage, a small group of pro-Ukraine demonstrators gathered near the base with flags and signs such as “support Ukraine” and “no compromise”. The delegations of the respective capital, Washington, Kiev and Moscow, continued to follow the meeting and release official communications in their countries, with the words of Macron who had an interview with Zelensky the same morning.
Moscow expectations and the duration of the summit
The summit, which could last up to seven hours, does not provide for the direct presence of Ukraine leadership, even if the Kremlin has hinted a possible opening to a trilateral meeting involving Zelensky, in case of favorable outcome. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov explained that “a lot has already been done” during the preparatory interviews, highlighting the work done by the advance Steve Witkoff in the meetings in Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have hoped that signals will arrive from Alaska for a right peace and solid security guarantees for Ukraine.
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