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One of Vladimir Putin's closest allies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, arrived in Alaska ahead of the summit between the Kremlin's leader and US President Donald Trump. As he left his car, the right-hand man of the Russian leader was spotted wearing a white T-shirt with the word 'CCCP', the Cyrillic for USSR, emblazoned on his chest.

The outfit choice was likely well studied and pointed, and sends a major message to Mr Trump and world leaders. As the two world leaders are about to come together for a high-profile meeting focused on peace in Ukraine, Mr Lavrov's shirt may suggest the Kremlin doesn't intend to walk away from its occupied neighbour. Rather, it reiterates the fears many nations, including the Baltic States, have been voicing in recent months: that Putin is interested in reinstating Soviet borders as much as possible.

Journalist Jon Sopel wrote on X: "Bloody hell. Lavrov arrives in Alaska with a T-shirt with CCCP, the Cyrillic letters for the USSR.

"In other words, when the Baltic states and Ukraine and the Central Asian republics were under Moscow's control. If this is a statement of intent, it's quite something."

Another journalist, Wall Street Journal's Yaroslav Trofimov, also commented on the fashion choice, writing on X: "Lavrov showed up in Alaska wearing a USSR sweatshirt. Very reassuring to at least 14 of Russia's neighbors."

Mr Lavrov arrived in Alaska a few hours before the Russian president who, according to state news agency Ria Novosti, will land in the US state at 8pm BST.

Mr Trump and Putin are to meet tonight at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson outside Anchorage in Alaska, with the focus of their talks expected to be peace in Ukraine. Russian media has claimed the summit will not be brief, and could last a minimum of six to seven hours - although it is not clear what this information is based on.

Ria also reported the meeting will see high-profile aides in attendance alongside the presidents, with Moscow expecting the summit to yield results.

Mr Trump, who left the White House at around 12pm BST, said on his platform, Truth Social, he held talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, widely described in Western media as Europe's "last dictator".

He wrote: "I had a wonderful talk with the highly respected President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko. The purpose of the call was to thank him for the release of 16 prisoners. We are also discussing the release of 1,300 additional prisoners. Our conversation was a very good one. We discussed many topics, including President Putin's visit to Alaska. I look forward to meeting President Lukashenko in the future. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"