This was an interesting style choice.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was spotted arriving in Alaska wearing a vintage USSR shirt.
Take a look:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was seen arriving for today's Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska wearing a "U.S.S.R." sweatshirt. pic.twitter.com/efdffzJmEF
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) August 15, 2025
Lavrov has arrived in Alaska to participate in the long-awaited meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Independent reported more details on Lavrov’s choice to sport the USSR shirt:
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was spotted wearing a USSR sweatshirt as he arrived in Anchorage ahead of Russia’s highly anticipated summit with US president Donald Trump.
The veteran politician arrived in Alaska ahead of President Vladimir Putin as a key member of Russia’s delegation. As he stepped out of a black vehicle ahead of the summit, he wore a sweatshirt beneath his black gilet that appeared to read ‘CCCP’, an abbreviation of the Russian-language cognate of USSR.
Lavrov’s vintage sweatshirt appeared to be a tongue in cheek reference to how critics of Putin have alleged the Russian leader wants to rebuild Soviet Russia. Statues of former General Secretary of the USSR Joseph Stalin have reappeared in Russia, with a monument to the dictator being unveiled in Moscow’s subway station earlier this year.
The foreign minister said ahead of the conference that Russia “never plans ahead”, responding to the US president’s comments on Thursday that there was a 25 per cent chance the summit to arrange peace between Ukraine and Russia would fail.
Sergey Lavrov: "We never make predictions ahead of time. We have solid arguments, we have our own clear and comprehensible position. We will present it here." pic.twitter.com/Zgl89DHfFw
— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) August 15, 2025
NPR provided more details on the meeting between Russian and U.S. officials:
President Trump is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska today, a momentous summit on American soil with a leader isolated by the West over his invasion of Ukraine.
Trump, who pledged a quick end to the war in Ukraine during his 2024 campaign, projected confidence ahead of the Anchorage summit — noting his strong relationship with the Russian leader.
ADVERTISEMENT“Look, he’s a smart guy. He’s been doing it for a long time, but so have I,” Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One to Alaska. “We get along. It’s a good respect level on both sides. And I think, you know, something is going to come up.”
The two leaders are expected to meet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on the outskirts of Anchorage starting at 11 a.m. Alaska Time (3 p.m. ET). White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that they would hold a joint press conference at the end of the summit.
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