Trump to bring Rubio, Witkoff into Putin meeting
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One while en route to meet with Russia's President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) | AP
By Eli Stokols
08/15/2025 02:56 PM EDT
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are moments away from meeting in Alaska — a summit that no longer will include just the two of them.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said just after Trump landed in Anchorage at 10:20 a.m. local time that Trump plans to bring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff with him into the room with Putin.
It was not immediately clear if the Russian side was caught off guard by the announcement or if Putin will seek to bring his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, or other advisers with him for the meeting.
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