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'A long way for nothing?' BBC correspondents on Alaska meeting
Watch: Putin greeted with handshake by Trump as he arrives in Alaska for summit
Presidents Trump and Putin are now shaking hands. The two leaders walked on to the red carpet rolled out for them - which connects from each plane and meets in the middle.
They are also exchanging pleasantries and smiles as they pose for photos for the world's press.
Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesPresident Putin is now disembarking from his plane after arriving in Anchorage, Alaska.
He is about to meet President Trump, who is expected to welcome him ahead of crucial talks on the war in Ukraine.
Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesUS President Donald Trump has just appeared at the doors of Air Force One after landing in Alaska. He's walking down the aircraft's steps towards the red carpet laid out for him and Vladimir Putin, who has also just touched down.
As a reminder, you can follow along by clicking watch live at the top of this page.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has just landed in Anchorage, Alaska, for the US-Russia summit.
We're still waiting for Trump to disembark Air Force One, but the pair are expected to meet at the steps of the Russian president's aircraft.
Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor, in Anchorage
The stage for Trump and Putin's joint press conference, to be held after their talks, displays the wording 'Pursuing Peace'
The summit hasn’t begun yet. But preparations are in full swing for the joint press conference.
At Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base, up on stage, there are two podiums, Russian and American flags and two words: “Pursuing Peace.”
If there’s already a slogan, might that suggest President Putin and President Trump are confident of a successful summit?
Successful for them in terms of kickstarting an improvement in US-Russian relations.
But what will be the consequences for Ukraine?
Will today’s meeting bring an end to Russia’s war there any closer?
Protests in support of Ukraine have been taking place on the sidelines of the highly-anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, where they are set to discuss ending Russia's war in Ukraine.
As a reminder, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to the summit today and has repeatedly asserted that no decisions can made about the future of the country without Ukrainian involvement.
The crowd is expanding in the room where Trump and Putin were meant to have their one-on-one.
But now White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tells reporters that Trump will be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
At the bilateral lunch that follows, Rubio, Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and chief of staff Susie Wiles will be present as well.
Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
While the planning for this hastily arranged meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has been somewhat haphazard, the arrival imagery has clearly been given some thought.
A long red carpet stretches from the tarmac to a nearby building. Putin, who has been treated as a pariah by US and European allies for nearly four years, is now getting the VIP treatment from the US side.
Some of America’s latest jet fighters are poised, like daggers, along the walkway, however – a not-so-subtle reminder of US military might.
The not-so subtle message from Trump might be that there are two paths forward from this meeting – diplomacy or more warfare.
Air Force One is touching down in Anchorage with Donald Trump onboard. Some of the US president's closest allies - Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and CIA director John Ratcliffe - joining him in an attempt to broker peace in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at Elmendorf-Richardson base around 11:30 local time (19:30 GMT/20:30 BST), marking the two leaders' first face-to-face interaction since Trump returned to the White House for his second term.
You can click watch live at the top of this page to follow along.
Image source, ReutersTrump boards Air Force One as he makes his way to Alaska
By Nick Beake, BBC Verify correspondent, reporting from Washington
US President Donald Trump’s position on Ukraine has shifted many times since he returned to the White House in January.
From accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three” to accusing Vladimir Putin of talking “bull****”, his approach has been highly unconventional and unpredictable.
In February, Trump phoned Putin - a move fellow Western leaders had deemed unacceptable.
Days after his bust-up with Zelensky in the Oval Office, Trump in March paused the supply of weapons and intelligence to Ukraine. He resumed the flow a week later after Kyiv agreed to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire.
But Putin failed to commit to the deal - much to the anger of Trump who blasted his Russian counterpart for the increased missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities.
The Trump-Zelensky relationship appeared to benefit from their meeting in the Vatican moments before the funeral of Pope Francis in April.
But at the start of July came another major US shift, as Washington again paused military aid to Ukraine.
Reversing the decision days later, Trump said he would in fact be increasing the supply of Patriot defensive missiles to Ukraine and agreed to a Nato proposal to allow allies to buy US equipment for use by Kyiv.
Trump then set Putin a deadline to reach a peace deal with Ukraine - a deadline that came and went with no punishment for Russia.
How Trump's position on Ukraine changed ahead of Alaska summit
As we await Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump's arrival in Alaska ahead of their US-Russia summit, we have a view of the tarmac at the airport where the Russian and American presidents will meet.
The red carpet is laid out between what appear to be military aircraft, ready to welcome them to the summit.
Will Vernon
BBC News
Image source, Sputnik/Kremlin Pool/EPAThere was reportedly confusion leading up to today’s summit about what exactly Vladimir Putin had preliminarily agreed to during a meeting with White House envoy Steve Witkoff last week.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Witkoff had presented three differing versions of a potential ceasefire deal - accepted by Putin - to European officials.
Most notably of all, reports say this concerned the crucial point of whether Moscow was prepared to withdraw its forces from Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, both partially occupied by Russia.
Writing on social media about the Witkoff-Putin meeting, President Trump said: "My special envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made!”
Witkoff has come under criticism before from former US diplomats and analysts for meeting President Putin without advisors, failing to take notes and relying on a Kremlin interpreter, instead of bringing a translator from the US Embassy in Moscow.
Experts have noted that Witkoff, who is often referred to as ‘President Trump’s Special Envoy for Everything’, lacks qualifications and experience in diplomacy and international affairs.
Prior to his White House appointment, he worked as a New York lawyer and real-estate developer.
Compare that to President Putin, who’s been doing diplomatic deals on the international stage for more than 25 years.
Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring Russia editor, in Anchorage
Moscow has "no over-inflated expectations" ahead of the summit in Alaska, Russian ambassador to the US Alexander Darchiev says.
Russia is expecting "constant and gradual progress" from the talks, not a breakthrough, he tells state news agency RIA Novosti.
Sarah Smith
North America editor, in Anchorage
We have now made it inside the base to a media holding area.
TV screens are showing the preparations for a planned joint Trump-Putin press conference later.
Looking at the title on the backdrop, “Pursuing Peace”, they seem to be optimistic about today’s talks.
We're expecting both Trump and Putin to land in Anchorage, Alaska within the next two hours.
The US president is scheduled to touch down at 10:30 local time (14:30 EDT / 19:30 BST) and the Russian president at 11:00 local time (15:00 EDT / 20:00 BST).
Trump is set to meet Putin on the stairs of his plane before the two head to their one-on-one meeting, with some aides present. The Kremlin said earlier that the meeting could last six or seven hours.
Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent
Image source, Getty ImagesIt has proved incredibly hard for US President Donald Trump to make any progress on the Ukraine war whatsoever.
Bearing in mind, he's sent his envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow five times now.
The only real thing that's come out of that is a few pretty low level meetings in Istanbul, between Ukrainians and the Russians, some prisoner swaps - but really very little progress.
Typically with these sorts of summits, all of the work has already been done - all the preparation and agreements have been ironed out. Usually this would be a ceremonial moment.
But what is happening in Alaska is that the two countries are starting pretty much from a blank sheet of paper.
We don't know exactly what either side is really trying to achieve here, other than President Trump saying he wants to stop the killing.
That's a noble aim. These talks are about life and death, war and peace - these things do matter.
But, we don't know how Russian President Putin and President Trump will get from their positions now to where Trump wants to be.
Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring Russia editor, in Anchorage
Image source, Vitaliy Shevchenko/BBCJournalists are gathering outside the Elmendorf-Richardson base in Anchorage where the two presidents will be meeting in a little more than three hours' time.
It's a chilly morning here in Anchorage and some are still in their cars trying to stay warm.
With less than two hours to go until he is expected to land in Anchorage, Donald Trump has been speaking to reporters on Air Force One again.
He tells them he wants to see a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine "rapidly".
"I don't know if it's going to be today, but I'm not going to be happy if it's not today," he says.
"This is not to do with Europe," he adds. "Europe's not telling me what to do, but they're going to be involved in the process, obviously, as well as Zelensky."
He says the US is not spending money on the war in Ukraine, but making money - receiving "big, beautiful cheques" from Nato for supplying weapons.
"But I don't care about that," he says. "I'm in this to stop the killing."
'Europe's not telling me what to do,' Trump tells reporters on Air Force One
Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor, reporting from Anchorage
I’m on a US army bus with other journalists at Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base, the summit venue.
The Kremlin says Donald Trump will greet Vladimir Putin personally when the Russian president gets off his plane here later today. A sign of respect that the Kremlin will appreciate - a sign, too, that thanks to President Trump, President Putin has been brought in from the cold.
At the summit, the Russians are expecting to discuss economic cooperation with America. There’s talk of a possible nuclear arms deal, too.
But the key question is: will there be any progress on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine? For example, can Vladimir Putin be persuaded to agree to a ceasefire - something he has so far been unwilling to do.
The summit is expected to last several hours and, as you’d expect at an American air base, security is tight.
One man who won’t be taking part in today’s meeting is Volodymyr Zelensky - Ukraine’s president hasn’t been invited - raising fears in Kyiv that by the end of the summit, President Trump’s position on the war in Ukraine will be closer to the Kremlin’s.
Image source, ReutersUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be noticeably absent from Friday's talks in Alaska.
On the streets of Kyiv, accountant Anna Sherstniova says she doesn't think it will bring anything good for Ukraine.
She tells Reuters she doesn't trust Trump and has no faith in him as "he says one thing today, another tomorrow".
Image source, ReutersSimiliarly, technician Liubomyr Yurtsiv says he doesn't expect to see a breakthrough from the talks.
He also anticipates that the outcome of the meeting "won't be positive".
Image source, ReutersRostyslav Sviatnenko echoes this pessimism, and says the meeting won't resolve the conflict.
“Ukraine can only defend itself with weapons... Russia is a country with which you can only talk from a position of strength. It will not give anything voluntarily."