As US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin prepare to meet today, a trio of Russian widebody Ilyushin IL-96-300 aircraft have landed in Alaska with Putin now en route to a summit ostensibly focused on ending the war in Ukraine.

Russian IL-96 Aircraft Arrive in Alaska As Trump + Putin Prepare To Meet Over Ukraine

Later today, Trump and Putin will meet at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Anchorage to discuss Ukraine and economic relations between the two nations. Ahead of the meeting, three Russian widebody IL-96 jets have arrived in Alaska, with Putin set to arrive later today after visiting the Russian Far East city of Magadan.

It will be an interesting day in terms of protocol:

State Department protocol is shaping much of the plan.

In a bilateral meeting, officials said, reciprocity rules mean every courtesy extended to one leader must be matched for the other.

Russian security will control Putin’s immediate movements while the Secret Service maintains an outer ring.

Neither side will open the other’s doors or ride in the other’s vehicles. If 10 US agents are posted outside a meeting room, 10 Russian agents will stand on the other side. Everything is matched body for body, gun for gun, one person said.

That symmetry will extend from the arrival motorcade to the placement of translators in the room. Both sides will bring their own language teams. Even the number and size of hold rooms — secure waiting areas for each leader — are being negotiated.

The Secret Service is still waiting for Russia to formally approve the full security plan, the people said.

Drawing inspiration from its French counterparts, ATC greeted the inbound aircraft with a “Free Ukraine” instruction. <sarcarsm>

One Mile At A Time shared a video of what Putin’s IL-96 may look like onboard:

As an aside, I still hope to fly the IL-96 one day on Cubana, though the Trump Administration has made that a bit harder and the aircraft has not operated for a couple of months…Hopefully I am not too late…

> Read More: Any Interest In A Cubana IL-96 Trip Report?

CONCLUSION

I’m not putting much hope in today’s meetings, especially when Ukraine is not present, but I think we all hope (somehow, someway) this three-year conflict in Ukraine will soon come to an end. In the meantime, it will be a rare sight to see so many Russian aricraft in Alaska…a reminder of what may have been if not for “Seward’s Folly,” the derogatory nickname given to the United States’ purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.

image: Adam Moreira