U.S. fighter jets escorted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aircraft on its way back to Russia after his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, the Kremlin press service reported.
“F-22 fighters accompanied the Russian president’s plane from Alaska to Russia,” the statement said. The Kremlin also released a
video of the escort.
Earlier, the U.S. and Russian presidents held a joint press briefing at Alaska’s Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base following negotiations in a '3+3' format on ending the war in Ukraine. The Russian side was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, while the U.S. delegation included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steven Witkoff. This was the first meeting between the two leaders since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Putin described the talks as productive, reiterating that the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis must be addressed to resolve the conflict. Trump, for his part, said the sides had not yet reached full mutual understanding and no deal had been concluded. However, he called the meeting “very productive,” noting that Washington and Moscow had managed to agree on many points regarding the war in Ukraine.
According to Trump, both countries now have “a good chance” to achieve a peaceful settlement. He added that he intends to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO partners by phone on the outcome of the talks.
