It was a welcome tailored for a close friend, not a war criminal, and it looked to the Ukrainians like their nightmare.

Russian President Vladimir Putin got everything he could have hoped for in Alaska. President Donald Trump got very little — judging by his own pre-summit metrics.

President Donald Trump walked into a summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin pressing for a ceasefire deal and threatening “severe consequences” and tough new sanctions if the Kremlin leader failed to agree to halt the fighting in Ukraine.

President Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin are holding a joint news conference after a more than 2 1/2-hour meeting in Alaska.

The last time President Donald Trump shared a room with Vladimir Putin, their relationship — perhaps the most scrutinized association of any two people in the entire world — was enjoying an upswing.

In a summit meeting marked by red carpets, handshakes and military flyovers, President Vladimir Putin made his first trip to the United States in a decade and was greeted warmly by President Donald Trump.

The summit comes after a string of deals the White House said Trump has helped broker globally that should earn him something he has long desired -- a Nobel Peace Prize.

President Donald Trump warned that "severe consequences" lie ahead for Russia if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't agree to stop the Ukraine war after they meet for a high-stakes summit in Alaska on Friday.