Overview

• The summit pivoted to a three-on-three format with Trump joined by envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while Putin is supported by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and aide Yuri Ushakov.
• Lavrov arrived in Anchorage wearing a CCCP sweatshirt, an explicit nod to Soviet symbolism that captured immediate media attention.
• Russian journalists en route to the talks were served chicken Kiev on their flight, a move critics view as another deliberate provocation toward Ukraine.
• Former officials including Ben Hodges and Michael McFaul have labeled Lavrov’s attire and related gestures as trolling that indicate Moscow’s lack of good-faith intent.
• The display of Soviet-era symbols echoes Putin’s past remarks calling the USSR’s collapse a major geopolitical loss and denying Ukrainian sovereignty.