Video: Trump Welcomes Putin in Alaska

SadaNews - On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where the two sides are expected to hold a historic summit.

The U.S. presidential plane was the first to arrive at a military base in Alaska, and Trump remained on board for several minutes, waiting for Putin's plane to land so that he could greet him.

 

At the same time as the two planes' arrivals, the White House revealed that the talks between the presidents will now take place in the presence of the leaders' aides.

 

White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt told reporters on the presidential plane that "the talks will be held with the attendance of aides to President Trump, most notably Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkov."

Initially, Trump was scheduled to have one-on-one talks with Putin, but the White House spokeswoman confirmed a change in the schedule.

 

U.S. network CNN reported that the format of the bilateral meeting shifted from a face-to-face encounter to a meeting with a larger group, noting that this change is "significant."

It added that "Trump's individual meetings with Putin during his first term had an air of mystery to them, as with only one translator present in the room, it was often unclear what exactly was discussed."

It pointed out that "it was difficult for Trump’s aides to ascertain whether the two men reached any agreements, and after one of those meetings in Germany, Trump asked his translator to dispose of his notes."

The network considered that "adding aides to today's session may allow for greater clarity after the meeting concludes, especially if Russia provides a narrative of events that differs from the American perspective."

It reported that one of Trump's aides would be able to take notes, which is often a key factor in keeping a real-time record of high-level summits.

Conversely, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his assistant Yuri Ushakov will be present alongside Putin.