The Air Force One flight carrying US President Donald Trump has left Joint Base Andrews, bound for Alaska, where he will hold a crucial summit with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, writes CNN.

Trump will participate in a bilateral program at 3 p.m. ET and is expected to depart Anchorage back to Washington at 9:45 p.m. ET, according to the White House’s daily guidance.

US President Donald Trump stopped short of promising security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a deal to end the war, saying he was open to the idea but that Europe would have to take the lead.

“Maybe”, he said to reporters on Air Force One en route to Alaska when asked whether the US would put security guarantees on the table.

Trump made clear such measures would not include Ukraine joining NATO: “Not in the form of NATO. There are certain things that aren’t going to happen”.

He said he wasn’t traveling to Alaska to broker a deal on behalf of Ukraine, but said instead his goal was getting Russian President Vladimir Putin to the table: “I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine”.