Trump-Putin Summit : Trump Posts Two-Word Message Ahead Of Ukraine Talks As He Boards Air Force One

Bryong Gooch and Kate Devlin, INDEPENDENT News, United States

US president Donald Trump has billed his summit with Vladimir Putin as “high stakes” ahead of flying to Anchorage, Alaska, for their first meeting in seven years.

Russian and US delegations began arriving in the city on Friday, with footage showing Air Force One waiting at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before its departure. On Truth Social, Trump posted a blunt two-word warning: “HIGH STAKES!!!”

Meanwhile, Russia’s veteran foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was spotted in Anchorage in a vintage USSR sweatshirt. He told reporters Moscow “never plans ahead” – a remark that added to the uncertainty surrounding the talks.

Trump has vowed that the Russian president is “not going to mess around with me” as he attempts to secure a ceasefire deal. He also floated the possibility of bringing in European leaders, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, for a second round of negotiations.

The White House said Friday’s programme will include a one-on-one meeting between the two presidents, a bilateral lunch with their delegations and a joint press conference – a sequence likely to set the tone for relations between Washington and Moscow in the crucial days to come.