On August 15, 2025, a high-level meeting took place at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the primary focus on the war in Ukraine.
Trump arrived aboard Air Force One, while Putin flew in on an Il-96-300PU, the Russian presidential aircraft, accompanied by support planes, including a Tu-214PU carrying the rest of his delegation.
Putin was welcomed with a red-carpet reception, a ceremonial flyover featuring a B-2 bomber and four F-35 fighters, and a joint stage appearance with Trump. However, the meeting did not succeed in producing the ceasefire that Trump had hoped for.
Following the talks, the Russian presidential aircraft was escorted by U.S. F-35A fighter jets as it departed American airspace. These F-35As, marked with the “AK” tail code, belong to the 354th Fighter Wing at Eielson Air Force Base and are tasked with Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) missions within Alaska’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
This escort was not a ceremonial gesture, but a standard security measure to ensure the protection of U.S. airspace and high-level diplomatic assets.
A similar precedent occurred on March 21, 2019, when two Italian Eurofighter Typhoons escorted Chinese President Xi Jinping as he approached Rome’s airport.
