RUSSIA rolled into Alaska with a swagger – and a sneer – before Vladimir Putin even set foot on US soil.

Sporting a USSR sweatshirt and offering Chicken Kiev cutlets, Moscow ramped up its provocative gestures towards Ukraine by blending Cold War nostalgia with overt mockery before the Putin-Trump summit.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived at the summit in a sweatshirt emblazoned with “CCCP” – the Russian abbreviation for the Soviet Union – sending a pointed signal of Moscow’s imperial ambitions and its disregard for Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Once praised in Western circles as a shrewd diplomat, the 75-year-old Lavrov now epitomizes the Kremlin’s hardline bravado, embracing Soviet nostalgia even as Russian troops engage in conflict with Ukrainians on the battlefield.

Former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis ridiculed the sartorial choice: “‘Just give us half of Ukraine and we promise we will stop,’ says negotiator wearing USSR sweatshirt.”

This spectacle conveniently aligned with Putin’s distorted claim that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people” – a falsehood that has justified the Kremlin’s territorial ambitions, war crimes, and removal of monuments attesting to Ukraine’s suffering under Soviet oppression.

But Lavrov’s jumper wasn’t the only jab.

During the flight to Alaska, Chicken Kiev was served to Russian state journalists – a Ukrainian dish whose very name is enough to incite Moscow’s anger.

RT boss Margarita Simonyan gleefully posted about the menu, while pro-Putin mouthpiece Sergei Markov went further, snarling that “Putin and Trump should make a Chicken Kiev out of Zelensky.”

The trolling mood soured when Russia’s press corps landed in Anchorage to find their “modest sleeping quarters” were inside a converted ice hockey stadium.

Once a Covid hospital, the venue is now lined with fold-out army beds donated by the Red Cross.

“We are living in Spartan conditions,” one reporter grumbled in a clip shared on social media, The Guardian reported.

This is Russia’s brand of diplomacy – trolling, humiliation, and a smug grin.

Behind the theatrics is a clear aim: to rattle Kyiv and its allies before the summit that could shape Ukraine’s fate.

Zelensky previously warned that any deal without Ukraine risks disaster.

He said on Friday ahead of the summit: “The key thing is that this meeting should open up a real path toward a just peace… We are counting on America.”

Donald Trump, meanwhile, was publicly playing the hard man. 

“Maybe it’s in his genes,” he said of Putin’s appetite for killing, warning of “very severe” consequences if the Russian leader isn’t serious about peace.

“If I weren’t president, he would take over all of Ukraine… but I am president and he’s not going to mess around with me.”

The two leaders locked eyes at the Elmendorf-Richardson base near Anchorage at 11.30am local time (8.30pm UK), with over 32,000 troops, air defences, and electronic jamming systems locking the place down. 

Putin’s feared “Musketeers” bodyguards were in tow, along with the nuclear briefcase – and even his notorious “poo suitcase” to guard his medical secrets.

Anchorage locals led protests, furious that a man wanted for war crimes was welcomed to US soil.

Many demanded an immediate end to the “barbaric killing of innocent civilians” in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, a former spy who trained at the same KGB school as Vladimir Putin warned of the Kremlin strongman’s powers of manipulation – and claimed the despot had already “won” the summit with Trump before it even began.

Behind closed doors, Trump and Putin “thrashed out sensitive matters” for more than two hours before making statements to the press, but without taking any questions.

The pair talked up progress after their high-stakes Alaska summit — but admitted no agreement was reached.

Putin called the war a “tragedy” and said he was “sincerely interested” in ending it, framing the meeting as a “starting point” while warning Ukraine and Europe not to “sabotage” talks.

He echoed Trump’s claim the conflict wouldn’t have started if Trump had been in office.

“There is no deal until there is a deal,” Trump said, adding: “We didn’t get there.”

He vowed to consult Zelensky and European leaders before “probably” meeting Putin again — prompting the Russian leader to quip: “Next time in Moscow.”

Sources earlier suggested Trump may dangle economic sweeteners – from access to Alaska’s resources to a “West Bank-style” model letting Russia keep its occupied Ukrainian land without redrawing borders.

Putin previously praised Trump’s “sincere efforts,” but Zelensky wasn’t buying it – calling the Russian leader’s peace talk a bluff.

Trump earlier insisted the stakes couldn’t be higher, posting a blunt warning before boarding Air Force One: “HIGH STAKES!!!”