The Alaskan summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that started with a greeting on the tarmac shortly afterward turned into a bilateral meeting behind closed doors.
The ongoing summit between the world leaders — who have been known to previously meet without any other government officials or aides in the room, only interpreters — was initially expected to be a one-on-one meeting.
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But earlier Friday, as Trump arrived, it was announced he would be joined by Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a White house official said.
Putin was to be joined by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin spokesperson told Russian state media.
The leaders have convened face-to-face Friday in Anchorage for a high-stakes summit as the U.S. seeks a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war.
For an expanded working lunch, the president was set to be joined by Rubio, Witkoff, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to a White House official.
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The summit marks Putin’s first visit to the U.S. in 10 years.
One key party who will not be in attendance Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump said Thursday he hopes the summit will lead to a second meeting that would include Zelenskyy.
Editor’s note: This story had been corrected to reflect that Joint Chiefs Chairman Caine was not included in the bilateral meeting.
