Vladimir Putin set foot on U.S. soil for the first time in 10 years on Friday—but don’t try telling President Donald Trump that. In the days leading up to the historic summit between the two world leaders,

It was a welcome tailored for a close friend, not a war criminal, and it looked to the Ukrainians like their nightmare.

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia did not agree on a ceasefire. But they did agree on something else: They both despise Joe Biden.

Anchorage is set to host a summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. Trump announced the summit last week. The goal is to discuss a potential end to the war between Russia and Ukraine. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not attending the Friday summit.

Trump will meet Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday as the U.S. leader hopes for a breakthrough in the three-and-a-half-year war, following previous negotiations involving his envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian president's rejection of a U.S. ceasefire proposal.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, an envoy for President Trump, suggested that a peace deal was still distant.

President Trump welcomed his Russian counterpart to Alaska with the former showman’s signature extravagance: a red carpet, a military flyover and a ride in the presidential limousine.But Trump headed back to Washington with little to show for all the pageantry.

In President Donald Trump’s warm red-carpet greeting at the Alaska summit, Russians saw an opening to pull America away from its traditional allies in Europe.