President Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin held a rare meeting Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin “immediately” opened and read a letter from First Lady Melania Trump at an Alaska summit focused on the war in Ukraine, according to a new report.

As the leaders of the United States and Russia met on Anchorage’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Friday, supporters of Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion staged multiple demonstrations in Alaska to protest the meeting and what they predicted would be capitulation to Russian goals.

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,

Trump and Putin “looked like buddies” during their initial greetings in Alaska Friday – but the dynamic had shifted by the end of their visit, according to a body language expert.

Pickup trucks, salmon fishing and grizzly bear displays give way to FBI agents and $1,000 hotel rooms as Anchorage’s biggest political moment unfolds. “All eyes” on the state.

It only makes sense that we’ve met here, because our countries though separated by the ocean are close neighbors,” Putin said in Anchorage.

Trump and Putin met in Alaska to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was not included in the summit, which drew criticism. ANCHORAGE, Alaska - U.S. President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to discuss the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Trump has visited Alaska several times as president, pushed for expanded oil, gas and mining permits there, and even got funding for new polar icebreakers, a popular stance in a state he won with 54% of the vote in 2024.

B-2 bomber and F-35s stage an impressive flyover watched by hundreds of thousands online as Trump and Putin meet in Anchorage.A U.S. Air Force B-2A Spirit

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.