US Treasury Secretary calls Trump-Putin Alaska meeting a ‘show of force’

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week was a “show of force”.

“Alaska was a show of force by President Trump. He invited President Putin to land that the Russians used to own. He displayed a huge amount of military hardware and then did a flyover,” Bessent said during a Tuesday morning appearance on CNBC.

“It was kind of like inviting your uncontrollable neighbour to your house and showing him your gun case”, he added.

Bessent said a “very good meeting” was held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s team at the White House on Monday.

“We had a very good meeting with him and his team in the Oval [Office] for about an hour and a half, and then we met with the European leaders who were an incredible group to have in the White House, all led by President Trump”, Bessent said.

“And yes, the culmination of that was a call with President Putin, and my strong belief is that there will be a bilateral meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. And that’s the only way to end this conflict, is to get the two sides talking”, he added.