US President Donald Trump offered a warm welcome to Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday as they met at length in a high-stakes summit in Alaska that will could shape the future of the Ukraine war.
In choreographed drama, the two leaders arrived in their respective presidential jets and descended on the tarmac of an air base, with Trump clapping as Putin stepped on Western soil for the first time since ordering the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
US military might was on display with a B-2 stealth bomber flying overhead, as a reporter shouted audibly to Putin, “Will you stop killing civilians?”
Putin, undaunted, grinned widely as Trump took the unusual step of escorting him into “The Beast,” the secure US presidential limousine, before a meeting in a room before a screen that said — in English only — “Pursuing Peace.”
The White House said the presidents and top aides were still meeting after two hours, signaling no early collapse to the summit which Trump said he was willing to cut short if necessary.
Putin smiled and joked with Russian reporters on the visit, a breakthrough for a leader who is facing an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court related to the Ukraine war, which has killed tens of thousands of people.
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