Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Alaska for high-stakes talks Friday with President Donald Trump, who hopes to ultimately negotiate a ceasefire in Russia's war against Ukraine.

Trump met Putin on the tarmac of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage shortly after the Russian leader's plane landed at around 10:50 a.m. local time. Trump arrived earlier.

Both men deplaned at the same time and walked down respective red carpets toward each other, meeting where those carpets intersected. Trump clapped as Putin approached him.

They greeted each other with apparent warmth, smiling, exchanging words, and patting each others' arms while shaking hands. They then walked to a riser to watch a flyover of military aircraft.

The two leaders then got into Trump's armored vehicle, "The Beast," and drove off. They did not respond to reporters' shouted questions before departing.

The talks come as Europe — including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was not invited — watches with bated breath.

Trump and Putin, who were initially expected to meet one-on-one, will now each be accompanied by two senior officials for their meeting, a White House official confirmed earlier Friday.

Trump will be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, the president's special envoy to the Middle East.

There will then be a working lunch for both delegations, before the presidents hold a joint news conference to summarize their talks.

Trump will be joined at the lunch by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, as well as Rubio and Witkoff, a White House official said.

Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told Russian state media earlier Friday that the entire summit could last "at least" six or seven hours.

The presser will undoubtedly be one of the most closely watched events of this year, revealing just how near, or far, the end of the war in Ukraine is — a conflict that has spanned more than 3½ years.

"The president wants to exhaust all options to try to bring this war to a peaceful resolution," the White House stated ahead of the Alaska summit.

It remains to be seen whether those "options" will ultimately be good or bad for Ukraine.

While on Air Force One, Trump suggested his yardstick for the summit's success is whether or not he can secure a ceasefire.

"I want to see a ceasefire 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 said.

At the same time, Trump appeared to be tempering expectations. "I can't tell you that. I don't know. It's - there's nothing set in stone," he said.

That noncommittal language echoes how Trump has talked about the meeting in the days leading up to it.

For instance, Trump suggested earlier this week that the summit would merely be a "feel-out meeting," before later warning that Russia would face "severe consequences" if he determines that Putin does not plan to end the war.

Not only is a ceasefire at stake — if Trump can persuade Putin to agree to one — but so too are Ukraine's territorial integrity, Europe's security, Russia's economy and geopolitical alliances.

Zelenskyy, who has a checkered relationship with Trump, will be nervous as the talks get underway.

"Indeed, high stakes," Zelenskyy wrote on X earlier Friday ahead of the Alaska summit.

"The key thing is that 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."

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

Both he and his European allies fear the U.S. leader could capitulate to skilled negotiator Putin's likely demands for Moscow to retain occupied Ukrainian territory and cut short Ukraine's NATO membership aspirations, in return for halting its military offensive.

As he headed off to Alaska on Air Force One, Trump told reporters that "something is going to come of it [the meeting]." When asked about Russia's ongoing attacks on Ukraine, the president said Putin "thinks that gives him strength in talks, I think it hurts him," in comments reported by Reuters.

Trump also insisted that Ukraine has to decide about its territory and that security guarantees were "possible along with Europe," without giving further details.

Russia's delegation includes only a few members of Putin's inner circle, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Kirill Dmitriev, Russia's investment and trade envoy, as well as Ushakov.

The presidential aide commented that "it is obvious to everyone that the central topic will be the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," including the "broader tasks of ensuring peace and security," as well as pressing international and regional issues.

Signaling that Russia will be looking to extol the economic benefits of a rapprochement with the U.S., Ushakov added that "an exchange of views is expected regarding the further development of bilateral cooperation, including in the trade and economic area," noting that "this cooperation has enormous and, unfortunately, untapped potential."