Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appeared to troll Kyiv and the West by wearing a Soviet CCCP top as he arrived for the Putin-Trump meeting in Alaska, sparking fury from Ukrainians.
The jumper, purportedly emblazoned with the letters, has been seen as an inflammatory and offensive gesture towards Ukraine because CCCP is a Russian abbreviation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
Until Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country endured hardship under Russian rule for 69 years, from the pogroms and political repression of the Lenin era to the Holodomor genocide of the 1930s and the covered-up Chernobyl disaster of 1986 which predated the collapse of the USSR.
A video shows the minister exiting a car outside the summit – seemingly wearing the provocative jumper beneath a gilet – as a reporter hounds him with questions.
He then brazenly conducted a press interview with the top visible, sending a chilling message to Ukraine and Russia’s pro-western neighbours.
‘The Russians are – literally – trolling Trump and Americans as the Alaska meetings begin,’ one user on X wrote in reaction to Lavrov‘s choice of jumper.
It comes just hours after Donald Trump insisted Vladimir Putin ‘is not going to mess around with me’ on the eve of their crunch summit.
‘If I weren’t president, in my opinion, he would much rather take over all of Ukraine but I am president and he’s not going to mess around with me,’ Trump said.
Lavrov, 75, was one of several politicians from the Russian delegation to arrive at the highly anticipated meeting between the U.S. and Russian leaders.
When asked what his predications for the highly anticipated meeting, Lavrov refused to speculate
Putin is travelling to the Pacific Coast in an armoured limo ahead of the highly anticipated summit about ending the war in Ukraine, with a massive convoy sweeping through sealed-off roads.
Footage shows a long line of black vehicles speeding along a road in Magadan, flanked by flashing police cars and trailed by what appears to be an ambulance.
The tight security comes as Putin prepares to sit down with Trump on Friday for their first face-to-face meeting since 2018.
The talks will begin at 11am Alaska time (19:00 BST) and is set against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine, with a focus on finding a path toward a ceasefire.
Trump extended the invitation at the Russian leader’s suggestion, but the US president has since been defensive and warned that the meeting could be over within minutes if Putin does not compromise.
Every word and gesture will be closely watched by European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not included and has publicly refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.
Trump, usually fond of boasting of his deal-making skills, has called the summit a ‘feel-out meeting’ to test Putin, whom he last saw in 2019.
‘I am president, and he’s not going to mess around with me,’ Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday.
It appears Lavrov has got the mind games started by arriving in a shirt that appears to have CCCP emblazoned on the front
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been spotted travelling to the Pacific Coast ahead of his highly anticipated summit with Donald Trump in Alaska
Footage shows a long line of black armoured vehicles speeding along a road, flanked by flashing police cars
Roads were sealed off as Vladimir Putin made his way to the Pacific Coast
‘If it’s a bad meeting, it’ll end very quickly, and if it’s a good meeting, we’re going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future,’ said Trump, who gave the summit a one in four chance of failure.
Trump has promised to consult with European leaders and Zelensky, saying that any final agreement would come in a three-way meeting with Trump and the Ukrainian president to ‘divvy up’ territory.
Trump has voiced admiration for Putin in the past and faced some of the most intense criticism of his political career after a 2018 summit in which he appeared cowed and accepted Putin’s denials of US intelligence findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 US election.
Before his return to the White House, Trump boasted of his relationship with Putin, blamed predecessor Joe Biden for the war and vowed to bring peace within 24 hours.
But despite repeated calls to Putin, and a stunning February 28 White House meeting in which Trump publicly berated Zelensky, the Russian leader has shown no signs of compromise.
Trump has acknowledged his frustration with Putin and warned of ‘very severe consequences’ if he does not accept a ceasefire – but also agreed to see him in Alaska.
The talks are set to begin at 11:30 am (1900 GMT) Friday at the Elmendorf Air Force Base, the largest US military installation in Alaska and a Cold War base for surveillance of the Soviet Union.
Adding to the historical significance, the United States bought Alaska in 1867 from Russia – a deal Moscow has cited to show the legitimacy of land swaps.
The summit will mark the first time the two have met face-to-face since 2018
The Kremlin said it expected Putin and Trump to meet alone with interpreters before a working lunch with aides.
Neither leader is expected to step off the base into Alaska’s largest city of Anchorage, where protesters have put up signs of solidarity with Ukraine.
Putin faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, leading him to curtail travel sharply since the war.
But the United States is not party to the Hague tribunal, and Trump’s Treasury Department temporarily eased sanctions on top Russian officials to allow them to travel and use bank cards in Alaska.
The summit comes amid escalating military activity in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the Donetsk region, where Russian forces have launched a rapid offensive.
Zelensky has firmly rejected any agreement that involves giving up more territory, citing constitutional and security concerns. President Trump has indicated that any potential peace deal may involve territorial adjustments, suggesting ‘some swapping’ of territories.
However, Ukrainian officials have expressed concerns that such proposals could undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty.
The summit is seen as a critical moment in the ongoing conflict, with the potential to either pave the way for a ceasefire or deepen divisions.
The meeting comes as Putin is preparing to test Russia;s nuclear-powered, nuclear armed cruise missles. Experts say recent satellite images show intense preparations at the Pankovo test site on Novaya Zemlya, a remote archipelago in the Barents Sea
Trump has hinted that a peace deal could involve ‘some swapping of territories to the betterment of both’, though details remain vague and controversial.
Last Friday, he said: ‘We are looking to actually get some back and some swapping. It is complicated, actually nothing easy. We are going to get some back, some switched.’
Meanwhile, Russia is believed to present sweeping demands – Ukraine’s withdrawal from regions like Donbas and Crimea, neutrality, and a rejection of NATO, conditions that Ukraine and its allies have long rejected.
However, many analysts warn that without coordinated Western pressure and Ukraine’s central role, the outcome remains uncertain. They also fear the talks could produce a victory for Putin without any guarantees of lasting peace.
It comes as Putin is gearing up to test its nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile after the US president warned him of ‘severe consequences’ if the war continues.
Experts say recent satellite images show intense preparations at the Pankovo test site on Novaya Zemlya, a remote archipelago in the Barents Sea.
The pictures, taken in recent weeks by commercial satellite firm Planet Labs, reveal a surge in personnel, equipment, ships and aircraft linked to earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik, known to NATO as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall.
When asked what his predications for the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov refused to speculate, saying: ‘We never try to anticipate the outcome or make any guesses. What we do know, however, is that we have arguments we can contribute to the discussion and that our position is clear. We will present it.’
Other members of the delegation on the Russian side include Foreign Policy Adviser Yuri Ushakov, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, and Russian Direct Investment Fund chief Kirill Dmitriev – a key figure in negotiations with the White House.
