If you’re confused about the aims, conduct and outcome of the summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025, you’re probably not alone.

Trump and Putin “looked like buddies” during their initial greetings in Alaska Friday – but the dynamic had shifted by the end of their visit, according to a body language expert.

Lawmakers retreated to their partisan corners in response to the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, with Republicans praising the president and Democrats arguing he was too cozy with Putin.

President Donald Trump lashed out at the criticism he’s faced for his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, which failed to result in a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.

However U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff revealed that Putin agreed to allow the U.S. and its European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee at his meeting with Trump.

In a summit meeting marked by red carpets, handshakes and military flyovers, President Vladimir Putin made his first trip to the United States in a decade and was greeted warmly by President Donald Trump.

Halibut Olympia, a Tuesday-night kind of recipe, was part of the planning (if not the eating) at the Friday meeting.

The highly anticipated summit ended without a breakthrough. Afterwards, Trump said Ukraine and Russia should proceed straight to seeking a full peace deal instead of a cease-fire.