Russia Begins Alaska Summit With Nonverbal Soviet Red Flags

If this diplomatic dance in Alaska is all about trying to find peace between Russia and Ukraine to end the war, then Russia is already throwing down a red flag on the field.

We all know that President Trump is determined to end this war between Russia and Ukraine. Depending on the day, and how Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky are responding to him, he can swing back and forth on who is perpetuating the continuation of the war. However, President Trump is a realist, and of course we aren’t seeing what is happening behind the scenes with advisors and intelligence at the White House.

This summit in Alaska is meant to jump-start the peace talks once more, with President Trump being directly involved.

The president will travel to Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday morning for the meeting, which is somewhat equidistant from both Washington, D.C., and Moscow. The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867.

The high-stakes meeting is the first U.S.-Russia summit since June 2021, which was under former President Joe Biden’s administration. That summit came just eight months before Putin invaded Ukraine.

Trump has described the talks as a “feel-out meeting,” and has made clear that his top priority will be to determine whether a ceasefire in Ukraine is possible. Trump predicted earlier this week that he would be able to make that determination within the first “two minutes.”

“I’m not going to make a deal. It’s not up to me to make a deal,” Trump said. “I think a deal should be made for both (Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy).”

“I’d like to see a ceasefire,” Trump continued. “I’d like to see the best deal that could be made for both parties. You know, it takes two to tango.”

There are estimates that the meeting today could last for up to six or seven HOURS.

Kremlin rep Dmitry Peskov has suggested that Friday’s summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could take at least six to seven hours.

Peskov also said that aides will participate in the session and expects talks will be “productive,” according to state-run RIA Novosti.

The White House schedule calls for Trump to depart Anchorage for Washington at 9:45 p.m. ET. The summit program is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET.

One of Putin’s favorite tactics is to get people in a room and then just talk endlessly (his interview with Tucker Carlson was very much like this) because Putin is a smug bastard who really thinks he is the smartest person in the room. He is also a true believer in the war. Putin’s end goal, if not explicitly stated, has been implied for a long time – he wants Russia to regain all the “territory” (otherwise known as the other independent nations) that the Soviet Union “lost” at the end of the Cold War. Ukraine was just the first step in a long term plan to achieve that “reunification” for the glory of the Russian Motherland. Putin is just the latest in the long line of Soviet strongmen, and he wants to reestablish an empire. Zelensky (who has his own issues within Ukraine, but has steadfastly resisted leaving the country or surrendering to Russia) is standing in his way. Is Putin playing at a summit, thinking he can talk circles around Trump once they are in a room together? I think Putin is likely overestimating his own skills, and underestimating Trump’s dedication to an actual peace process.

The problem is, Russia’s Foriegn Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has already thrown a Soviet Union red flag down in Alaska with his sartorial choices.

Lavrov has a long history of using Soviet iconography (and making others wear it because they are either too stupid to notice, or they agree with him).

Yeah that’s kind of his thing. https://t.co/lO6u6dYDGr pic.twitter.com/SvLG6AXtsB

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 15, 2025

The logo on that shirt is instantly recognizable for anyone who lived through the Cold War, and spent years watching Olympic Games with Soviet athletes wearing those same letters. This was a deliberate move by Lavrov, and everyone knows it. And he doesn’t wear that without Putin’s (at minimum) tacit approval.

Now, does that mean this summit between Putin and Trump is doomed before it even begins? No, but it does mean that the United States should be crystal clear on what Russia wants. Putin wants the whole of Ukraine, or at least more than he currently occupies. Russia is playing the long game, remember? Putin is pretty much dictator-for-life at this point, and his goal is probably to get as much territory as he can in Ukraine, and then outlast Trump’s term before making another move, hoping that the next U.S. president will care less about Ukraine, peace, or Russia reassembling the Soviet land empire.

Remember when I said that Putin was underestimating Trump’s dedication to the peace process? Well, now Trump has even MORE incentive to get Russia and Ukraine to sign an armistice of some kind.

If Donald Trump negotiates an end to Putin’s war on Ukraine without Ukraine having to cede territory, I’ll nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize myself. https://t.co/SYXKhhLqkS

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 15, 2025

“Honestly, if he could bring about the end to this terrible war, if he could end it without putting Ukraine in a position where it had to concede its territory to the aggressor, could really stand up to Putin — something we haven’t seen, but maybe this is the opportunity — if President Trump were the architect of that, I’d nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize,” Clinton told podcast interviewer Jessica Tarlov in an interview released Friday.

“Because my goal here is to not allow capitulation to Putin,” she added.

Now, Hillary put quite the qualifier on that offer. Russia has “annexed” Crimea (which they invaded during the Obama administration) and occupies other territory in the Donbas region that Ukraine may well have to concede in a ceasefire agreement, even though Zelensky doesn’t want to, because Russia has had a hold on it since 2014. Does she intend for Trump to get Russia out of Crimea and the Donbas? That’s not even something Obama could do in the moment, and we’re now a full decade past that initial invasion. If Trump can end the war and freeze the current front lines in an armistice, that should be enough for Hillary Clinton (but I’m sure she’ll find a way to weasel out of it somehow). But just having that carrot dangled out in front of Donald Trump will motivate him to no end (imagine Putin’s reaction when he hears what Hillary said), because if there’s anything Trump wants more than peace, it’s Hillary Clinton eating crow.

We shall have to see how events develop once Putin and Trump are both on the ground in Alaska today.

Featured image: Soviet star pin via Daveesons on Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license

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