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By Ellie Cook
Senior Defense Reporter
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A framed photo of President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on display in the White House has raised eyebrows ahead of fresh attempts scheduled this week to negotiate a peace deal for Ukraine.
On Tuesday, PBS White House correspondent Elizabeth Landers published an image on social media of a photograph showing the two leaders standing together at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, framed and hung on a wall close to the West Wing.
The two leaders met at the Anchorage military base in August. The U.S. president—quite literally—rolled out the red carpet for his Russian counterpart and was photographed warmly greeting him. For many Ukrainians, the summit was an indication that the war-torn country was being sidelined by its most important but deeply unpredictable ally, and that the White House had once again shuffled closer to Moscow than to Kyiv.
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The photograph appears to be the same one Trump previously described as a gift from Putin after the summit in the summer.
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A White House official did not confirm if the two photos were the same, but told told Newsweek there was "nothing unusual" about showcasing snapshots in the building of Trump's public meetings and events. There are "photos of several other instances when the [sic] President Trump met with world leaders," the official wrote in an email. It is not clear whether any of those photos include images of Trump meeting Ukraine's leader, Volodymyr Zelensky.
"The photos around the complex are constantly updated and rotated as new photos are captured," the official added.
European countries have watched with some anxiety as the Trump administration took office last January and pursued a rapprochement with Moscow, largely a pariah state for European nations since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago.
Concern has continued to mount in European capitals that U.S.-backed peace talks could produce an agreement to end the war that puts Ukraine on the back foot and could be seen as rewarding Moscow.
No deal materialized from the highly publicized summit in Alaska almost six months ago, and the first tripartite talks between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi over the weekend ended without a breakthrough, although officials from the three countries described the meetings as constructive. Fresh negotiations are expected to begin on Sunday.
Trump is "always talking about Alaska as a great success," said John Foreman, a former U.K. defense attaché to both Moscow and Kyiv. That the U.S. president would put such an image on public display was no surprise, he told Newsweek.
Trump's choice of wall decoration will shore up a perception in Europe that he "has a strange personal affinity for Putin and his way of doing things," Foreman added.
A European military source, who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record, remarked, "Maybe bring some pictures from Hitler in as well."
The framed photograph sits above a separate photo of Trump with one of his grandchildren.
"Putting Putin above the American people and his own family," Virginia Democrat Mark Warner, the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote in response to Landers' post. "Almost a little too on the nose."
Kirill Dmitriev—the chief of Russia's sovereign wealth fund who emerged as a key negotiator—commented: "Good. A picture is worth a thousand words."
Marko Mihkelson, the chair of Estonia's parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, said of the photo: "If it is true that the U.S. president considers it appropriate to hang on the White House wall a photo of the greatest war criminal of the 21st century, then a just and sustainable peace will have to wait. Unfortunately."
Trump has often painted his administration's communication with the Kremlin as founded in a close personal relationship between him and Putin. Although overt in his criticism of the glacial pace of peace talks and of large-scale Russian strikes on Ukraine, Trump has skirted harshly condemning Putin and called him a strong leader.
Trump has had fewer complimentary words to offer about Zelensky. The Ukrainian leader's infamous White House visit last February descended into a public show of fractured relations between Kyiv and Washington. Although Ukraine has been eager to avoid ties deteriorating further, obvious strain has remained.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that Washington told Ukraine it must agree to a peace deal to clinch U.S. security guarantees Kyiv has long pursued, citing an anonymous source familiar with internal discussions.
Zelensky said shortly after talks ended in the United Arab Emirates that a document outlining American security guarantees was "100 percent ready." Ukraine's European backers and Ukrainian officials have insisted that a future peace deal must build in guarantees provided by the U.S. to deter Russia from recovering and then restarting the war down the line.
Seemingly irreconcilable positions on territory have always tripped up peace talks and appear to be the most significant remaining obstacle for negotiators.
Update 1/28/2026, 7:36 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 1/28/2026, 9:31 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from a White House official.
Update 1/28/2026, 9:47 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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