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.

Several of Trump and Putin’s previous meetings did not include aides.

According to the White House, Trump and Putin will also take part in an expanded bilateral lunch meeting that will include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and chief of staff Susie Wiles.

Trump has said in recent days, and again Friday morning during an interview aboard Air Force One as he flew to Alaska, that he would be able to determine in his first minutes with Putin whether he’s serious about negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine.

But the backdrop behind a stage where Trump may hold a joint press conference with Putin following their meetings reads ‘Pursuing Peace,’ seemingly an indication that the president is eager to present the meeting as a success.