Putin is not only meeting with Trump in Alaska to address Russia’s war in Ukraine, but to also get his country back on the world stage.

The Russian president is hoping for economic wins from this summit as his country’s economy has become weaker as a result of U.S. and European sanctions that came in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

A crowd of people voicing support for Ukraine is demonstrating outside Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

Many protesters are holding Ukraine’s blue and yellow flag and one large parachute-sized flag in blue and yellow that reads “Alaska Stands With Ukraine.”

Moments after Trump’s talks with Putin kicked off, Trump began fundraising off of the meeting.

“I’m meeting with Putin in Alaska! It’s a little chilly,” the fundraising email said. “THIS MEETING IS VERY HIGH STAKES for the world.”

The email urged supporters to “stand with Trump” and “give $10.”

Putin’s ride in ‘The Beast’ stirs speculation

02:05

Russian media is reporting that there was a car waiting for Putin on the tarmac. It’s unclear why the Russian leader instead got inside “The Beast” with Trump.

In an interview en route to Alaska, Trump told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” that “you don’t want to have too many expectations” ahead of trying to make deals.

“I’d like to see a ceasefire,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t be thrilled if I didn’t get it, but everyone says, ‘You’re not going to get the ceasefire, it’ll take place on the second meeting.'”

Trump reiterated that the parties would hold a second meeting “if things work out.” He previously said that the second meeting would include Zelenskyy, who was excluded today.

This isn’t the first time Trump has held a high-stakes meeting with a U.S. adversary.

Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2019, taking the unprecedented step of walking on North Korean land. Ultimately, though, the two did not make a deal.

If history repeats itself, Trump and Putin will not necessarily come to an agreement in Alaska. Russian officials have expressed to NBC News that they’re aware of Trump’s unpredictability and are taking it into their calculations.

I’ve spoken to Zelenskyy repeatedly and he is adamant that he will not agree to cede Ukrainian territory to Russia in a hypothetical resolution to the war.

Trump and Putin were in the motorcade together for about 10 minutes on their way from the tarmac to the meeting area.

The high-stakes meeting between Trump, Putin and senior officials has kicked off.

Cameras briefly got their first glimpse of Trump and Putin sitting side by side ahead of their bilateral meeting.

Trump and Putin briefly face cameras at beginning of Alaska summit

02:56

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff sat to Trump’s left, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin aide Yuri Ushakov sat beside Putin.

Reporters were quickly ushered out of the room after shouting questions.

Trump’s seemingly warm greeting of Putin stands in stark contrast to the extraordinary White House clash between Trump and Zelenskyy in late February.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance chastised Zelenskyy inside the Oval Office, reprimanding the Ukrainian president for not showing enough gratitude to the U.S. for its military assistance.

The images of Trump and Putin shaking hands and laughing on the tarmac are stunning. These history-making images will be replayed and rewatched for years to come.

Putin speaks some conversational English, though English-language exchanges with the Russian leader can be stilted. It’s possible Putin attempted to make small talk with Trump in English.

The two leaders have left the tarmac together, with Putin joining Trump in his presidential vehicle, “The Beast.”

They appeared to be alone in the back seat — an image that likely won’t sit well with Ukrainian officials who have been excluded from the summit, “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas said.

According to NBC News’ Keir Simmons, Putin does speak English and can speak without an interpreter.

Putin grins from inside Trump’s presidential vehicle at Alaska arrival ceremony

03:42

Trump and Putin ignored several reporters’ questions as they stood on a navy blue platform that said in large letters, “Alaska 2025.”

The two leaders stood shaking hands as reporters shouted questions, asking Putin, for example, if he would support a possible ceasefire in Ukraine.

Trump and Putin are exchanging greetings on the red carpet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. This is Putin’s first time on U.S. soil in a decade.

Trump and Putin arrive in Alaska, shake hands on tarmac

04:03

In conversations with everyday Ukrainians, I’ve heard hope about these talks — but not optimism.

There’s hope because Ukrainians are desperate for a ceasefire after more than three years of grinding war. Every night, Russia’s military attacks Ukrainian cities. Everyday people here want this conflict to end.

But many of those same people are not optimistic about the outcome of the Trump-Putin summit.

They don’t believe that offering Ukrainian territory to Putin will satisfy the Russian leader, and they’re not convinced he’ll walk away so easily.

Putin has arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Trump is expected to meet the Russian leader on a red carpet laid out on the tarmac.

Putin has yet to arrive in Anchorage, which raises the question of whether the Russian leader will keep Trump waiting. Putin is notorious for keeping people — even world leaders — waiting ahead of scheduled meetings. It’s a tactic he uses to keep the upper hand.

Then again, Putin could arrive on time in an effort to flatter Trump and the Americans.

In a video message posted on social media shortly before Putin was expected to arrive in Alaska, Zelenskyy said the Russian military continues to pummel Ukraine even on the day of the summit.

“On the day of negotiations, the Russians are killing as well. And that speaks volumes,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X that accompanied the video.

“Recently, weʼve discussed with the U.S. and Europeans what can truly work. Everyone needs a just end to the war. Ukraine is ready to work as productively as possible to bring the war to an end.”

Zelenskyy was not invited to the summit.

Zelenskyy urges U.S. to take ‘strong position’ with Russia

00:37

In a video posted to Truth Social, Trump is heard telling reporters aboard Air Force One that he wants to see a ceasefire “rapidly.” He added: “I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today.”

“Everyone said it can’t be today, but I’m just saying I want the killing to stop. I’m in this to stop the killing,” Trump went on to say, echoing rhetoric he has used in the past about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In response to a question about what would constitute success at the end, Trump said: “I can’t tell you that. I don’t know. There’s nothing set in stone.”

Air Force One touched down in Anchorage at 10:20 a.m. local time after a six-hour flight.

A senior White House official tells NBC News that Trump will be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff for today’s meeting with Putin and his advisers.

This replaces what was originally described as a one-on-one between Trump and Putin, per this official.

Interpreters are expected to attend as well.

Attending the bilateral working lunch are Rubio, Witkoff, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and chief of staff Susie Wiles.

In the summit press area at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the American and Russian press corps have been largely kept separate.

American journalists occupy one half of a press tent; Russians, the other. American reporters have a Wi-Fi connection; the Russians have their own.

When it came for the press to go through security, Secret Service swept the Russian side first, the Americans second.

One place where journalists from the two countries can mingle: an outdoor smoking area off the room where Trump and possibly Putin will hold a joint news conference. A sign on a tent flap marks the smoking area, written in both Russian and English.

Demonstrators gather outside of Washington, D.C.’s police headquarters to protest the federal government’s takeover of the force.

Protesters rally against federal D.C. police takeover

00:58

Attorney General Pam Bondi sent letters to 33 governors, mayors and county board members across the country attacking their “sanctuary jurisdiction policies” and directing them to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts under threat of prosecution.

“You are hereby notified that your jurisdiction has been identified as one that engages in sanctuary policies and practices that thwart federal immigration enforcement to the detriment of the interests of the United States. This ends now,” Bondi said in the mostly identical letters.

Ben Hodges, the former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, told NBC News today he has serious doubts about the talks in Alaska.

“I have very low expectations for this summit between Presidents Trump and Putin, and it seems the Trump administration is also busy lowering expectations,” Hodges said.

Kirill Dmitriev, a Putin adviser who heads Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, posted a 13-second clip on X showing his encounter with a bear somewhere in the wilds of Alaska.

“Met a bear in Alaska before the US-Russia Summit,” Dmitriev wrote, adding a teddy bear emoji as a fluorish. “Hopefully a good sign,” he added with a smiley face emoji.

The White House has not responded to questions about if or how the president is preparing in these last hours before the summit he himself has described as “HIGH STAKES.” But in the last hour, Trump has posted repeatedly about domestic political issues, including trolling Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and suggesting Democrats are paying for people to protest his effort to fight crime in D.C.

Congressional Democrats are introducing a joint resolution to terminate Trump’s federalization of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of D.C. and Rep. Robert Garcia of California are leading the effort in the House, while Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland will introduce the legislation in the Senate.

The resolution, which is likely dead on arrival under the Republican-controlled Congress, says the president “has failed to identify special conditions of an emergency nature that compel the use of the Metropolitan Police Department for Federal purposes in the District of Columbia.”

“The only emergency here is a lawless president experiencing a growing public relations emergency because of his close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and his stubborn refusal to release the Epstein file despite his promise to do so,” Raskin said. 

Speaking to Russian state media, Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, spoke about the upcoming summit, including the bilateral meeting between Trump and Putin, the meeting between the delegations of both nations, and the expected press conference.

“In general, one can imagine that, of course, this might take at least six to seven hours,” he said.

Authorities carrying out the federal takeover of the D.C. police force made a total of 33 arrests across the district last night, according to a White House official — including 15 people who were said to be undocumented immigrants.

Federal authorities seized what the official described as eight illegal firearms. The people arrested included those suspected of first-degree murder, first-degree rape and aggravated assault, according to the official.

On the day of negotiations, Russia is “also killing,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post in which he listed strikes on the Dnipropetrovsk Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Donetsk regions of his country.

“The war continues. It continues precisely because there is not only no order, but also no signals about Moscow’s preparation to end this war,” Zelenskyy said.

“Ukraine is ready to work as productively as possible to end the war. We hope for a strong American position,” he added. “Everything will depend on this.”

Trump will host his Russian counterpart, Putin, for a meeting here today in an audacious bid to broker a peace deal and stop a three-year war with Ukraine and its ever-rising body count.

Trump spent the run-up to the summit tempering expectations that it would produce a breakthrough, casting it instead as a prelude to an as-yet-unscheduled meeting that would include Zelenskyy.

Read the full story here.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced that a second special legislative session will begin today, hours after the first one came to a close after state House Democrats blocked the GOP from enacting its redistricting plan.

In a statement, Abbott blasted the “delinquent House Democrats [who] ran away from their responsibility to pass crucial legislation to benefit the lives of Texans,” specifically noting legislation on issues like flood relief, school standards and more.

But the crux of the debate over the special session has instead been over the GOP-backed plan to pad the party’s majority in the U.S. House by embarking on a rare, midcycle redistricting plan. Democrats have been fiercely critical of the plan and accused Republicans of holding flood relief hostage over the partisan redistricting fight.

While the Democratic lawmakers haven’t explicitly said whether they’ll return home for this session, they’ve begun signaling in recent days that they’ll consider blocking the first session a victory and consider returning to Austin.

D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith, responding to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s order last night effectively stripping her of her authority, said she had “never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive.”

“If effectuated, the Bondi Order would upend the command structure of MPD, endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers alike,” Smith wrote in a sworn declaration supporting the city’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over its federalization of the city’s police force.

Smith’s declaration could play a significant role at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes at 2 p.m. today on the lawsuit.

“Imposing a new command structure ‘effective immediately’ will wreak operational havoc within MPD and create tremendous risk for the public,” Smith wrote. “The new command structure will create confusion for MPD personnel, who are required under District law to respect and obey the Chief of Police as the head and chief of the police force.”

“There is no greater risk to public safety in a paramilitary organization than to not know who is in command,” Smith wrote.

Security at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the venue for the summit, is tight.

How tight?

In the hours before the summit, Secret Service agents were seen opening up dozens of boxed lunches one by one and inspecting the contents.

The Texas House gaveled out this morning day ending the first special legislative session, where Republicans were unable to pass a plan to pad their party’s majority in the U.S. House thanks to a walkout by state Democrats.

But that victory for Democrats is likely to be short-lived, as Gov. Greg Abbott has promised to call “special session after special session” until the party’s priorities, including redistricting and flood relief, are passed. Abbott could announce the beginning of a new special session as soon as today.

“Do not go very far, as I believe our governor will be calling us back for another special session very, very soon,” House Speaker Dustin Burrows said.

State House Democrats, who have been out of the state for two weeks in protest of the redistricting plan, have celebrated their efforts and claimed victory in preventing Republican leaders from enacting the plan during the first special session.

While en route to Alaska to meet with Trump, Putin met with hockey players at a sports complex in Magadan on the Sea of Okhotsk.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., blasted the summit early today, telling MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he believes a peace deal is unlikely.

Murphy, a vocal critic of the Trump administration, characterized the talks as a “big moment for Putin because he essentially is being legitimized in the eyes of the United States and in the eyes of the world.”

“We know there’s not going to be any major peace deal here, largely because one of the parties to the war isn’t at the table,” Murphy said, referring to the absence of Zelenskyy.

Murphy went on to dismiss the summit as a “photo-op” that “essentially legitimizes war crimes [and] telegraphs to other autocrats or evil men around the world that they can get away with murdering civilians and still get a photo-op with the president of the United States.”

Recent polls show Trump underwater with Americans on his handling of the war between Russia and Ukraine and that the public is warming in its support for financial aid to Ukraine.

A recent Wall Street Journal poll found 41% of registered voters approve of Trump’s handling of the war, while 51% disapprove. (The poll surveyed 1,500 registered voters from July 16-20 and has an error margin of 2.5%.) A Pew survey from early August found 41% of adults said they have confidence that Trump can handle the war, while 59% said they were not confident. (Pew’s poll has an error margin of 1.8%.)

Both polls, as well as a mid-July Fox News poll, found increasing levels of support for America providing support to Ukraine.

In the Wall Street Journal poll, for example, 58% of registered voters said they favored the U.S. sending additional financial aid to Ukraine to support the war effort, while 36% opposed that. That’s up from 46% favoring sending more aid and 49% opposing it in the outlet’s poll in January.

In an interview on MSNBC this morning, Dmytro Kuleba, the former foreign minister of Ukraine, cast doubt on the idea that Russia is ready to end the war.

“Is ceasefire an attainable goal? Yes, it is. Is the end to the war in Ukraine attainable at this point? No, it is not,” Kuleba told “Morning Joe.”

“Even if there is a pause in the form of a ceasefire, there is a wide understanding that it will only be a pause,” he added.

“The conversation itself is a good sign and it needs to be continued because Ukrainians, they keep fighting and they will keep fighting,” Kuleba said.

“But it is also true to say that Ukrainians are exhausted and we all need a chance for peace to secure,” he added.

01:58

Protesters gathered in Anchorage today to rally against the Trump-Putin summit, expressing skepticism over whether it will bear any results. Several voiced disappointment that Zelenskyy was not involved in the high-stakes meeting.

Trump and Putin will meet today at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a military base that was crucial to U.S. efforts to counter the then-Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Throughout its history, it has hosted large number of aircraft and oversaw early warning radar sites aimed at detecting any possible nuclear launches and other Soviet activity.

While much of the military hardware has now been deactivated, planes from the base still intercept Russian aircraft that fly into U.S. airspace.

Ukraine sunk a vessel yesterday carrying Iranian military supplies to Russia, the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine said today.

It said Ukraine “carried out a fire strike on the sea port Olya.”

“According to available information, the vessel ‘Port Olya 4,’ loaded with components for Shahed-type UAVs and ammunition from Iran, was hit,” it posted on Telegram.

“The results of the strike are being clarified,” the statement said.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he spoke to the president of Belarus, a key Putin ally, about the release of political prisoners.

“I had a wonderful talk with the highly respected President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko. The purpose of the call was to thank him for the release of 16 prisoners,” he wrote.

“We are also discussing the release of 1,300 additional prisoners. Our conversation was a very good one. We discussed many topics, including President Putin’s visit to Alaska. I look forward to meeting President Lukashenko in the future,” Trump added.

Lukashenko is widely considered a dictator and has been reported to have numerous human rights abuses by the State Department and United Nations, among others.

Ukrainians are expressing concern and skepticism ahead of the talks between Trump and Putin.

The overwhelming sentiment from government officials, soldiers and civilians is that they don’t trust the fact that the pair will be meeting together without Ukrainians in the room.

Train traffic is often an indication of the mood of a place. In Kramatorsk, the government ordered people with children to evacuate amid an ongoing Russian offensive; that doesn’t suggest much faith that Trump and Putin will come to a resolution.

Trump seems to be going back and forth on whether he will be discussing borders and the swapping of territory, and the Ukrainians have some experience with Trump and don’t necessarily trust what he says.

The U.S. and Russian delegations meeting in Alaska will be trying to undo a Gordian knot given the vast negotiating distance between Moscow and Kyiv, according to a former Russian deputy foreign minister who maintains close ties to the Kremlin.

“The biggest problem for Putin is that he cannot accept an immediate ceasefire,” Andrei Fedorov told NBC News. “It’s very hard for Putin to agree on trilateral summit due to the fact that in this case, he must recognize Zelenskyy as a valid president.”

Putin will want to talk most about removing sanctions and increasing trade, Fedorov said, but Trump said today on Air Force One that none of that can happen without a ceasefire.

It’s a catch-22.

But, Fedorov said, don’t be surprised if the Russians try to find ways around the problem.

01:15

Moscow residents expressed hope and skepticism over the Trump-Putin summit, saying that “there should be a connection between Russia and America,” but adding that it’s unlikely to change the war in Ukraine. One woman said she would “like for all of this to end,” but added that she doesn’t trust the people on the other side.

Putin visited a fish oil plant in the eastern Russian town of Magadan today ahead of his summit with Trump in Alaska.

“The President visited the Omega-Si plant, which processes and refines fish oil with subsequent production of encapsulated products with a high content of omega-3.” the Kremlin posted on Telegram. “This is the first Russian plant producing re-esterified triglycerides from white fish from the Sea of Okhotsk — sardines and herring.”

Magadan is roughly a four-hour flight to Anchorage, where Putin is set to meet with Trump later today.

The late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s wife has urged Trump and Putin to free political prisoners as part of their summit in Alaska today, to ensure it will “go down in history.”

“Launch a new round of prisoner exchange,” Yulia Navalnaya said in a video message posted on X. “Free Russian political activists and journalists, free Ukrainian civilians, free those in prison for anti war statements and social media posts. After all, you are negotiating to end the war so why should people remain behind bars for the winding exactly the same thing.”

Navalny, 47, died in prison last year, according to the country’s prison service, following a yearslong struggle against official corruption and Putin’s government that included him surviving several poisoning attempts.

Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said that the two presidents will greet each other on the tarmac in Alaska once Putin lands.

“Then there will be a punctual departure from Magadan to Anchorage due to the fact that exactly at 11 o’clock local time, the President must land and be met at the plane by President Trump,” Peskov said in Russian.

Norway’s government said today it is donating 1 billion crowns ($98.29 million) to Ukraine for the purchase of natural gas ahead of winter.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Anchorage, Trump said that he heard Putin is “bringing a lot of businesspeople” to their summit on the Ukraine war.

“I like that because they want to do business,” Trump added before saying that no business will be conducted until the war concludes.

Currently, the U.S. and Russia do almost no direct business due to extremely strict sanctions levied against the country after it invaded Ukraine. In 2024, just $3 billion worth of goods were imported from Russia, according to Commerce Department data.

But countries such as India and China, as well as the European Union, still do some business with Russia. That primarily involves energy purchases. Trump recently slapped a 50% tariff on India for that reason.

The trade agreement Trump inked with the E.U. calls for $250 billion in U.S. energy purchases a year as the bloc works to phase out its use of Russian energy.

Kremlin pool reporters are staying in makeshift accommodations at the Alaska Airlines Center sports arena due to a lack of available hotel rooms in Anchorage.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said in a a post on X that he is “Praying for President Trump to Stand Strong in Alaska Today.”

“A Ceasefire followed by a Just and Lasting Peace will only come through American Strength,” he wrote.

Pence has often disagreed with the way Trump characterizes the causes of the war in Ukraine. He wrote on X earlier this year, “Mr. President, Ukraine did not ‘start’ this war. Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. The Road to Peace must be built on the Truth.”

In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in May, Pence characterized Trump’s views on Ukraine as a “departure” from the foreign policy positions of the first Trump administration. In the same interview, Pence called Trump’s support for Ukraine “wavering.”

Russia will have to back down from its “maximalist goals” if anything is to come out of the summit between Trump and Putin, according to one analyst.

“So far, Putin’s demands amount to an unconditional surrender,” Moritz Brake, a senior fellow at the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies, told NBC News on the phone today. “If anything is to come out of this meeting, he would have to have back down to some degree from these.”

Moritz said questions remain over Trump’s willingness “to compromise on guarantees previously given by the United States to the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” noting that the absence of Ukraine at the Alaska talks marked signs of a return to “19th century power politics, an era where the two great powers negotiate based on their interests and perceptions.”

“That is clearly an alarming signal,” he said, “regardless of what the outcome is.”

People in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk are evacuating for safer areas as Russian troops are closing in even as the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska gets underway. Zelenskyy has warned he thinks Putin doesn’t want peace, but to control Ukraine. NBC’s Richard Engel reports and “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker joins “TODAY” with analysis.

Zelenskyy warns Putin doesn’t want peace but to control Ukraine

04:59

Brian Schwalb, the attorney general for the District of Columbia, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington today challenging the Trump administration’s takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department.

The lawsuit challenges Trump’s Monday order, as well as Attorney General Pam Bondi’s order yesterday claiming federal control of the D.C. police force. Schwalb’s office argued that the orders exceed the limits on requesting services from D.C., which it says can only be done on a temporary basis under emergency circumstances.

Read the full story here.

Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev has agreed with Trump after the president described today’s summit as “HIGH STAKES!!!” in a post on Truth Social.

Posting an image of Trump’s post on X, Dmitriev said “True.”

Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and known for his close ties to the Kremlin, also posted a photo of himself in Alaska standing in front of a U.S. flag.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today, and both leaders agreed to meet again after the Alaska summit between Trump and Putin, the Elysee Palace said.

In an interview with Fox News this morning, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said “It’s really a just peace that I think we’re all looking at.”

Dunleavy, a Republican, added that it’s “a great idea for the president to meet Putin” and that it “makes sense” for the meeting to take place in Alaska given its location.

“In terms of the stakes, obviously, it’s about peace,” Dunleavy said. “If we can get this thing taken care of and wrapped up with President Trump, President Putin and then President Zelenskyy, I think it bodes well for the world.”

“But my understanding is right now it’s just going to be President Trump and Putin talking and meeting and setting the groundwork, I hope, for a lasting peace,” the governor added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country is “counting on America” ahead of Trump’s summit with Putin in Alaska today.

“This meeting should open up a real path toward a just peace and a substantive discussion between leaders in a trilateral format — Ukraine, the United States, and the Russian side,” he posted on X.

“It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America.”

Russia will come to the Alaska summit as it makes steady but costly gains on the Ukrainian battlefield. Putin believes he has the momentum in this war, throwing tens of thousands of soldiers each month into his “meat grinder” war machine.

Some Ukraine-supporting military analysts were alarmed this week after it appeared advanced Russian units had punched a hole through Ukraine’s defenses near the town of Dobropillya. Ukrainian reinforcements rushed to the area, launching a counterattack that was able to stabilize the situation, according to Ukrainian military officials and Russian military bloggers. But the fight there and elsewhere remains desperate for Kyiv’s forces.

Compounding the situation is an infantry crisis that has seen Ukraine’s once superior troop numbers dwindle, now outnumbered by Russia’s conscription of prison inmates and hiring of mercenaries and soldiers from North Korea. “The entire front has turned into a ‘hodgepodge,’” Bohdan Krotevych, the former head of Ukraine’s Azov Brigade, posted on X last week. “This chaos has been growing for a long time, worsening with each passing day.”

Nevertheless, some Western analysts believe that if Ukraine can hold out into next year, then Russia will begin struggling to resupply its losses of personnel and equipment. Though American aid to Ukraine has stalled under Trump, that gap has been largely plugged by European powers, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute think tank.

Putin’s summit with Trump in Alaska already marks a “victory” for the Russian president before it even begins, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia warned.

“The first concern is that Putin has already achieved victory,” Michael McFaul, who served in the Obama administration, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this morning. “He’s an indicted war criminal. He can’t travel to many countries, almost certainly most democracies. He’s now meeting with the president.”

McFaul added that Trump needed to get something out of the meeting to “make it all worthwhile,” giving “all the power to the other side of the table.”

“Putin is in a very strong position,” he said. “He doesn’t have to agree to anything, and this is still a victory for him.”

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, the president previewed the upcoming Alaska summit, saying about Putin, “There’s a good respect level on both sides, and I think, you know, something’s going to come of it.”

Trump responded to several questions about what the details of a deal to end the war could look like. Answering a question about whether a deal would include territorial swaps between Russia and Ukraine, Trump said, “I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision.”

Zelenskyy has repeatedly said he is not willing to cede any territory to Russia. European leaders have said that giving Russia land could embolden it to invade other countries.

Trump is set to welcome Putin in Alaska for the Russian leader’s first visit on United States soil in 10 years. Trump is framing the meeting as a “chess game,” hoping it will lead to another that’ll include Zelenskyy. “All I want to do is set the table for the next meeting,” Trump said. NBC’s Peter Alexander reports for “TODAY.”

Trump hopes Putin visit will ‘set the table’ for Zelenskyy meeting

02:25

Pope Leo XIV prayed today for a peaceful end to the “increasingly deafening violence” of wars around the world as he celebrated a Catholic feast day on the same day as a high-stakes U.S.-Russia summit over the war in Ukraine.

History’s first American pope didn’t mention the meeting in Alaska. But he has constantly called for dialogue and an end to the conflict, including in conversations with Putin and Zelenskyy.

Leo recalled that the Aug. 15 feast day dedicated to the Virgin Mary was declared a dogma by Pope Pius XII at the height of World War II.

“He (Pius) hoped that human lives would never again be destroyed by wars,” Leo said. “How relevant are these words today? Unfortunately, even today, we feel powerless in the face of the spread of increasingly deafening violence, insensitive to any movement of humanity.”

Trump boarded Air Force One ahead of a high-stakes summit with Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, where the president says he hopes to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine. NBC News’ Matt Bodner breaks down what to expect from the historic meeting.

Trump departs for Alaska ahead of summit with Putin

02:15

Trump has departed Washington on Air Force One and is en route to Alaska, where he’ll meet with Putin for the highly-anticipated summit about ending the war in Ukraine.

Trump did not speak to reporters before boarding the plane. He turned and waved just before entering.

Ahead of his departure, the president wrote in a post on Truth Social, “HIGH STAKES!!!”

KHARKIV, Ukraine — Even as his family sobbed into the dirt of his brother’s grave, Ukrainian soldier Artem Reshetilov warned Trump that he should not compromise with Russia during today’s peace talks in Alaska.

His brother, Andrei Reshetilov, 38, was killed by a Russian artillery strike while fighting to defend Ukraine’s front lines. At the funeral on the eve of the talks in Anchorage — to which Ukraine has not been invited — Reshetilov urged Trump not to bend to Putin’s demands of more Ukrainian land.

“We don’t have to compromise with the enemy and give up our beloved land because this enemy won’t stop,” said Reshetilov, 46, as hundreds of Ukrainian flags, each marking the grave of a fallen soldier, flapped in the breeze behind him at this cemetery near the major northeastern city of Kharkiv.

He told NBC News he fears Russia could merely use a ceasefire to “return even stronger” and attack Ukraine and even other countries in Europe. These fears are not confined just to Ukrainian hearts, but also shared by governments, experts and people across Europe and beyond who fear what Trump might agree with Putin in a bid to resolve a war he once promised the American people he could fix in 24 hours.

Read the full story here.

02:13

The historical ties between the state of Alaska and Russia date back to 1784 when Russians began to settle the land.

Ironically the Crimean war in Ukraine forced Russia to sell Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million to help offest the country’s a growing debt. Alaska became a U.S. territory in 1867.

But Russian Orthodox churches still dot the landscape and names of places such as Nikolaevsk and Voznesensk speak to their shared history.

Russia has intensified its military activity on the front lines of the war in Ukraine to demonstrate success and leverage discussions with Trump, according to a Ukrainian military analyst.

“Russian generals were ordered to intensify all possible activities to try to break through the front line so Putin can show to Trump that they are successful on front line,” Mykhailo Samus, director of the New Geopolitics Research Network, told NBC News on the phone today.

“It’s a normal Russian tactic, and especially for Putin, to have a successful negotiation,” he added. “He is trying to get a military success, to put it on the table.”

But Samus noted that the short notice of the summit meant Putin’s generals were unable to prepare vast military operations.

“If you’re looking at the territory gains, it’s pretty much the same as in July or June,” he said.

Putin will be joined by five senior Russians officials at the summit in Alaska, offering clues about what’s on the agenda.

Veteran diplomats Yuri Ushakov, a long-serving presidential aide and ambassador to the United States, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has led the ministry for more than 20 years, may help steer discussions on foreign policy.

Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov point to talks covering the war in Ukraine and potential sanctions relief.

Completing the delegation is Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, known for his close ties to the Kremlin and his role in building relationships with U.S. and international businesses.

Looking back on key moments of the war in Ukraine

04:08

As Trump is just hours away from his meeting with Putin, NBC News’ Richard Engel takes a look back on key moments from the 3½-year-long war in Ukraine.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will travel with Trump to Alaska today.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Ambassadors Steve Witkoff and Monica Crowley will also be attending the summit with the president.

A recent family vacation Vice President JD Vance took for his 41st birthday is coming under renewed scrutiny as Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff launches a new probe into a federal request to raise the level of a river to accommodate his kayak trip.

In a letter first shared with NBC News, Schiff, of California, requests information about the move, which he calls “unjustified and frivolous.”

Read the full story here.

Putin may already feel like a winner when he sits down today in Alaska with Trump.

Putin, who has ruthlessly secured unprecedented power at home, has seen his army finally eke out a slight advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine after years of brutal back-and-forth fighting. Now, invited in from the diplomatic cold, the Russian leader headed to Anchorage full of praise for Trump’s “energetic and sincere efforts” ahead of the talks, which will see him set foot on American soil for the first time in a decade.

Trump has warned there will be “very severe consequences” unless he agrees to stop the war and said yesterday that Putin is “not going to mess around with me.” But for the Russian leader, the one-on-one sit-down with Trump may already feel like a victory.

Read the full story here.

The U.S. should be arresting Putin, “not legitimizing him and entertaining him,” according to a Marine who was wrongfully detained in Russia for five years.

Former Russia detainee Paul Whelan speaks out ahead of Trump-Putin Alaska meeting

03:55

“There’s no reason that we should trust him, and we shouldn’t legitimize a despotic leader like Vladimir Putin,” Paul Whelan told “Hallie Jackson Now” in an interview yesterday.

Pointing to the arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court in March 2023, Whelan said the Russian leader was “a wanted war criminal” and “our government is treating him like a friend.”

The Alaska summit “was a fool’s errand,” and there was “no reason” to trust Putin, he said. “It’s not going to come to a good end,” he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has paid tribute to the “heroic” North Korean troops fighting against Ukraine in a letter to the secretive communist country’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

In the letter celebrating the end of Japanese colonial rule and North Korea’s “Liberation Day,” Putin paid tribute to the “bonds of military brotherhood, friendship and mutual assistance,” between the two nations.

“This was fully confirmed by the heroic participation of Korean servicemen in the liberation of the territories of the Kursk region from the Ukrainian invaders,” he said. “The Russian people will forever preserve the memory of their courage and selflessness.”

North Korea has sent around 15,000 troops to Russia since last fall and also supplied large quantities of military equipment, according to South Korean intelligence assessments.

Ukrainians skeptical fair deal will be reached during Trump-Putin meeting

02:01

After more than three years of war, Ukrainians are skeptical there will be a breakthrough to end it at the meeting between Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

NBC News’ Richard Engel spoke to a family grieving a fallen Ukrainian soldier and visited a drone command center hidden in a garage.

The Ukraine must be involved in decisions determining its own future after today’s Trump-Putin summit, British Defense Secretary John Healey said today.

“The Ukrainians are the ones who are fighting, with huge courage — military and civilians alike. It’s for President Zelensky and the Ukrainians to determine the end to the fighting and the terms on which that takes place,” he told BBC radio’s “Today.”

Sidelined from the Trump-Putin tete-a-tete, a joint statement by European Union leaders last week welcomed Trump’s efforts “towards ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” but stressed that “a path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy said last week that any decisions taken without Ukraine were “decisions against peace,” adding, “They will not achieve anything.”

A presenter on Russian state media show SolovyovLive has published a bizarre video apparently calling for the Russia-U.S. friendship.

In the video, a woman wearing a dress in Russian state colors can be seen waltzing with a young man wearing a suit in U.S. state colors. As they dance, images of Putin and Trump float in the background.

The video was shared on the telegram channel of Sergey Karnaukhov with a caption saying Russia and the United States “have enormous potential for developing constructive relations and rapprochement.”

Russian drone strikes killed seven civilians and injured 17 more across multiple Ukrainian regions last night into today, officials in the country said.

The Russian army launched two missiles and 81 air strikes in the past 24 hours, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said this morning.

It said Ukraine had struck multiple Russian military targets, and that losses in the Russian army “amounted to 940 people.”

Ukrainian strikes injured 12 in Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions last night into today, officials in the country said.

Kursk Gov. Alexander Khinstein said Ukraine targeted a multistory residential building in the Zheleznodorozhny district and that some residents were transferred to temporary accommodation shelters.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had intercepted 55 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions.

The choice of Alaska for talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is being seen as symbolic by some Russian commentators, who are framing it as a nod to historic ties and a chance for closer relations in future.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not been invited to the summit about the war in his homeland and representatives from Europe have also been excluded, fueling Kyiv’s worst fears that its future might be decided without its input.

Russians express hope and skepticism over Trump, Putin summit

01:15

But Moscow’s media and political elite have praised the choice of venue — a territory the United States purchased from the then-Russian Empire 158 years ago — framing it as a reminder that the U.S. and Russia are geographically close to one another and suggesting it could strengthen relations between the two nations.’

Read the full story here

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia’s “position is clear” as he arrived in Alaska wearing a pullover with “USSR” written on it, a reference to the former Soviet Union, dissolved in 1991.

Lavrov hopes for ‘useful conversation’ during Trump, Putin summit

00:33

“We never try to anticipate the outcome or make any guesses,” Lavrov told Russian media in video published this morning, after he was told Trump said there was a 25% chance that talks would not be successful.

“Much has been accomplished already during the visits by the US President’s Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff,” he said. “I hope that we will be able to continue this productive conversation tomorrow,” said Lavrov.

Britain’s King Charles called for “international cooperation” today as part of commemorations marking VJ Day — the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia.

“War’s true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life — a tragedy all-too vividly demonstrated by conflicts around the world today,” he said in an audio recording.

“Countries and communities that had never before fought together learned to coordinate their efforts across vast distances, faiths and cultural divides,” he added. “Together they proved that, in times of war and in times of peace, the greatest weapons of all are not the arms you bear, but the arms you link.”

Charles welcomed Zelenskyy to Windsor Castle for an audience in July, and has shown support for Ukraine since the war began.

The president lowered expectations for a breakthrough in what will be the Russian leader’s first steps on U.S. soil in a decade.

President Trump and Russian Leader Putin to meet in high-stakes summit Friday

02:49

On the eve of Trump and Putin’s summit at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaskans gathered in Anchorage to voice their support for Ukraine.

Trump is expected to roll out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin’s arrival at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson today, according to two senior administration officials, and is planning to greet the Russian leader when he arrives.

Officials stressed the exact details and stagecraft of the meeting’s movements are being finalized.

As of last night, Trump is not expected to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or European leaders before today’s meeting, according to a third senior administration official. It’s unclear, however, whether that could change during his seven-hour flight from Washington to Anchorage, Alaska.

As Trump prepares to meet Putin in Alaska today, a new survey finds that a majority of Americans are not confident that Trump can make wise decisions about the war in Ukraine.

The Pew Research Center survey showed that 59% of Americans said they lacked confidence in the president’s decision-making on Russia, while 40% say they are confident he can make wise decisions on the conflict that started in 2022.

According to the survey, 33% of respondents said Trump is favoring Russia too much, and 6% said he is favoring Ukraine too much. As many as 28% said Trump is striking about the right balance, while 32% are not sure.

Majority of Americans lack confidence in Trump when it comes to Russia, new survey finds, continued

Americans remain divided over whether the United States has a responsibility to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s invasion: 50% said the U.S. does have a responsibility and 47% said it does not, according to the survey.

The share of Republicans who say America has that responsibility has increased 12 percentage points since March, to 35% from 23%. Among Democrats, 66% said the U.S. has a duty to aid Ukraine.

The survey was conducted Aug. 4-10 among 3,554 adults.