Moment Trump and Putin shake hands as historic Alaska summit begins

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shook hands after stepping out of their presidential aircraft on Friday evening. The leaders greeted each other with a smile, just as they were about to enter the first phase of their meeting in Alaska.

As two presidents came together on a red carpet for the cameras, reporters called out questions to them. When one asked Putin if he "will stop killing civilians," the Russian president simply pointed to his ear and shrugged, suggesting he did not have an earplug on for her question to be translated. It is widely believed that Putin knows English. The arrival was marked by a military flyover, with B-2 bombers and F-22 fighter jets passing overhead as the two men shook hands.

After the photo op, they rode off in Trump's "the Beast" limo, even though Putin also brought his "Aurus" limousine.

US Sky News correspondent James Matthews said this will worry Western allies.

He said: "What they've seen there, the optics of that, the warmth displayed by Donald Trump, everything the optics say about the power dynamic in the relationship - that's not going to go down well for people looking on in Kyiv and elsewhere."

A body language expert also analysed the first handshake exchanged by the pair since 2019, when they last met.

Inbaal Honigman, speaking on behalf of Oddspedia, said that while both leaders looked friendly, there were telltale signs lurking just under the surface which suggested the Russian leader was the "dominant party."

After they arrived to the base where the summit is taking place, the presidents, flanked by some of their aides, took part in another photoshoot, before beginning their meeting behind closed doors.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and envoy Steve Witkoff sat alongside Trump, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and aide Yuri Ushakov were next to Putin in a room with a big poster with the words "pursuing peace".