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Donald Trump offered a warm gretting to Vladimir Putin (Image: 2025 Getty Images)
Donald Trump was full of praise for Vladimir Putin when they met in Alaska to discuss the Ukraine conflict. However, shortly after greeting him, he reportedly made a decisive comment, declaring it was "game on" between the influential world leaders.
The presidents, who later discussed a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, shook hands upon their arrival in Anchorage on Friday (August 15). They then proceeded along a red carpet on the tarmac of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Air Base towards Trump's presidential limousine.
During this brief walk, while American jets flew overhead in a celebratory formation, expert lip reader Jeremy Freeman managed to decipher some of the conversation between the two leaders.
Jeremy informed the Irish Star that Trump said "finally" after greeting Putin, followed by: "You made it, great to see you and it's appreciated."
Putin expressed his gratitude to the US president before Trump firmly stated: "Game on... It's lovely to see you."
A lip reader was on hand to anaylse the footage (Image: AP)
He reiterated his pleasure at seeing the Russian president and mentioned how "wonderful" Alaska was.
As the planes roared overhead, Trump turned to Putin and remarked: "That's loud for you, that's loud!"
Putin concurred with a simple "yes" and "I know", and moments later Trump told him: "It's symbolic, it's great for you."
According to Jeremy, Putin responded: "Yes, I agree, thank you."
Trump, who faced backlash for his warm welcome of Putin, reiterated his stance with another "it's great" comment before courteously saying "after you".
Many Ukrainians were shocked by the VIP treatment and prior to the discussions, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated: "Everything concerning Ukraine must be discussed exclusively with Ukraine. We must prepare a trilateral format for talks."
Following nearly three hours of dialogue between the leaders, Trump informed journalists in a brief press conference that they had "agreed on some big points".
Putin and Trump did not agree to a ceasefire (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
However, he added: "There were many, many points that we agreed on. I would say a couple of big ones, but we haven't quite got there, we've made some headway. There's no deal until there's a deal."
Putin, on the other hand, professed to be "sincerely interested" in resolving what he termed as a "tragedy" in Ukraine.
He then extended an invitation to Trump for further discussions in Moscow, to which the US leader chuckled: "That's an interesting one. I'll get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening."
Following the discussions with Trump, Putin's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation released a video.
Kirill Dmitriev stated that the summit had "definitely been productive" and that America had "received [the] Russian side very well".
He added: "There were lots of issues that we discussed, and many we agreed. Some of them are to be agreed.
"And definitely it's very important that President Trump outlined a significant economic potential of cooperation between US and Russia."
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