Oh.

Trump has just boarded the Air Force One, but has nothing to say to reporters gathered both at the White House and the Joint Base Andrews.

A seven-hour flight to Alaska ahead before the US president meets the Russian president for the first time in four years.

USSR sweatshirt and chicken kyiv: Russia dials up trolling before Alaska summit

Pjotr Sauer

Russian affairs reporter

In a not-so-subtle act of trolling, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, arrived in Alaska on the eve of the US–Russia summit wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with “USSR”.

Once seen in western capitals as a pragmatic and skilled diplomat, the 75-year-old has in recent years mirrored the Kremlin’s radicalised politics, adopting an increasingly combative tone and resorting to trolling and mockery.

Lavrov’s choice of attire nods to the Kremlin’s long-running narrative: Putin has repeatedly claimed that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people”, denying Ukraine’s legitimacy and territorial integrity while promoting a broader notion of unity with Russia.

Most of Russia’s veteran delegation to Alaska, including Lavrov, began their careers in the Soviet Union and have been accused by the Russian opposition of clinging to a Soviet imperialist mentality.

Under Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory, pro-Moscow authorities have dismantled monuments commemorating Ukrainian suffering under Soviet rule, including memorials to victims of Holodomor, the mass famine in Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s that killed millions of Ukrainians.

The former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis quipped on X about Lavrov’s clothing choice: “‘Just give us half of Ukraine and we promise we will stop,’ says negotiator wearing USSR sweatshirt.”

Russian fashion bloggers on Telegram were quick to identify the $120 sweatshirt as the work of Selsovet, a Chelyabinsk-based brand that specialises in “Soviet heritage” clothing.

Lavrov’s antics were the latest in a string of Russian provocations leading up to the summit, aimed at unsettling Ukraine and its European allies. Earlier, the editor-in-chief of RT, Margarita Simonyan, wrote that the Russian press corps flying to Alaska had been served chicken kyiv cutlets.

The menu choice was quickly seized upon by other Russian propagandists.

“Putin and Trump should turn Zelenskyy into a chicken kyiv. There’s no shortage of humour in the Kremlin,” wrote the pro-Kremlin commentator Sergei Markov.

In the last few minutes, US president Donald Trump appeared to recognise the importance of the occasion ahead, posting on his Truth Social account:

HIGH STAKES!!!

We may hear from him again in the next, say, half hour as he is about to leave the White House for Joint Base Andrews, from where he will depart for Alaska – and we all know that he loves to chat with reporters!

What’s at stake at the Trump-Putin Ukraine peace summit?

Dan Sabbagh

Defence and security editor

Few believe that Friday’s Trump-Putin summit in Alaska will pave the way for a breakthrough. Russia and Ukraine remain far apart – with the Kremlin seeking to dominate its smaller neighbour while Kyiv wants to move decisively into the western sphere.

Here are some of the key issues that will need to be addressed to reach a meaningful peace settlement.

1. Territory

Russia occupies around a fifth of Ukraine after more than three years of fighting but continues to demand land. Earlier this week the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russia wanted the rest of Donetsk oblast, 9,000 square kilometres of territory, in return for a ceasefire. Zelenskyy said Ukraine could not agree, particularly for so little in return. Ukraine’s public would also be unlikely to accept handing over more land to the invader.

2. Security guarantees

Russia says it wants Ukraine to be neutral, though in practice this means a weak neighbour with no ties to the west. In previous negotiations, still referenced by the Kremlin, it has demanded that Kyiv’s military be reduced to a token 50,000. It also still calls for the country to be “denazified”, interpreted as a call for the replacement of Zelenskyy.

Ukraine would like to join Nato, though this has been rejected by the US, leaving it searching for bilateral or multilateral security guarantees from its western allies. Britain and France have promised to lead a predominantly European “reassurance force” that will enter Ukraine in the event of a stable ceasefire, though Russia is opposed to this.

3. Sanctions and trade

Russia wants economic sanctions that have been imposed on Moscow to be lifted. Trump, however, can only speak for the US, with the UK and the EU likely to be more hostile, unless Ukraine has signed up to an overall peace agreement.

4. War crimes, reparations and reconstruction

War crimes and claims for reparations cannot be set aside as part of a peace agreement. The international criminal court (ICC) has an arrest warrant out against Putin over the forced transfer of about 20,000 children from Ukraine to Russia. Zelenskyy has asked that the youngsters are returned in the first stage of any peace discussions, but the ICC demand will not disappear.

5. Other issues

There are many other practical concerns. Ukraine is calling for the release of all prisoners of war alongside an initial ceasefire. Russia holds more than 8,000 Ukrainian PoWs and Ukraine a smaller amount, making one-for-one swaps tricky. But there have been dozens of exchanges since the start of the war, and this may be one of the simpler issues to agree upon.

Read in full:

Morning opening: Welcome to Anchorage, AK

Jakub Krupa

The eyes of the world are on Anchorage, Alaska, where the US president, Donald Trump, will meet with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, for what the US hopes will be a pivotal moment in their efforts to end the war in Ukraine (the Russian hopes may be somewhat different).

The summit is set to start 11am AKDT, which for us in Europe is 8pm BST, 9pm CEST, starting a flurry of diplomacy between the two delegations in a variety of formats: one-on-one and in larger groups.

It is expected to conclude some seven hours later, according to the schedule, with plans for a joint press conference with both leaders. At least that’s the plan for now.

Local residents are torn between excitement over high-profile visit and trepidation over what US-Russian leaders might agree, with some even joking: “Please don’t sell us back.” (The US bought Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867).

And that sense of solidarity with Ukraine was palpable on the streets of Anchorage, with demonstrations in support for the war-torn country with various banners further exploring that theme.

But the talks are not going to be easy at all, with both sides coming with almost completely opposite aims and ambitions.

Russia, emboldened by the apparent progress made on the battlefield, will want to try and convince the US that it’s just a matter of time before it meets its military goals, and any earlier settlement would therefore need to meet their maximalist demands.

That’s very much not the view of Ukraine and it’s European partners, demanding respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty, the postwar principle that borders must not be changed by force, and arguing that not giving in to Russian demands is crucial for Europe’s broader security landscape.

When it comes to the host, US president Donald Trump, he implied there was a 75% chance of the Alaska meeting succeeding, and that the threat of economic sanctions may have made Putin more willing to seek an end to the war.

But what happens when the doors close and the two leaders sit down for talks – no one knows.

We will bring you all the latest here with pre-summit analysis and commentary, and later live updates from the summit and first reactions from the US, Ukraine, and Europe.

It could turn out to be one of the days we learn about in history books or… just another day of political theatre, with little practical consequences. Let’s see.

It’s Friday, 15 August 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.