Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov landed in Anchorage on 15 August ahead of Friday’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, wearing a white sweatshirt marked “CCCP,” the Cyrillic abbreviation for the former Soviet Union. The garment, visible beneath a sleeveless jacket as Lavrov entered his hotel, immediately drew international media attention because of its Soviet-era symbolism on U.S. soil. Lavrov told reporters that Moscow “never makes plans in advance” about talks but would present a “clear and understandable” position. His arrival comes as Trump describes the planned session at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson as carrying “a lot at stake,” estimating a one-in-four chance the discussions collapse. The U.S. side is led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, while Russia’s delegation includes Defense Minister Andrey Belousov. The leaders are expected to focus on ending the war in Ukraine and the future of nuclear-arms control. Trump has suggested a follow-up meeting that would add Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky if initial talks make progress. For now, Lavrov’s conspicuous nod to Soviet imagery underscores the fraught atmosphere surrounding the first Trump-Putin summit on U.S. territory since 2018.