Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Alaska for the first time in years on Friday, but the US president appeared stunned by the Russian leader's Moscow invite.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin seemed to echo President Trump’s unfounded claim that Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine in 2022 if the Republican was in office instead of former President Joe Biden.

Less than an hour before, Putin had been met with a warm welcome as he stepped onto US soil for the first time in a decade. At 11.08am local time, after Mr Trump had already descended the steps of Air Force One, Putin finally ventured out of his own aircraft and walked briskly down the stairs to join the US leader.

Ukrainians mocked Vladimir Putin’s strange “shaking” legs as he bade farewell to Donald Trump early at the Alaska summit after lunch was cancelled. They even claimed he wore a “light exoskeleton” as well as thick-platform shoes to overcome his ‘Napoleon complex’ and minimise his height difference with the US president.

The arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will mark a rare occasion when the Kremlin leader will set foot on American soil. Putin, who is due to land in Anchorage later on Friday, hasn’t visited the U.

"Special Report" host Bret Baier on Friday reported President Donald Trump spoke to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Air Force One and told the president that Vladimir Putin is "ready to deal.

Lawmakers retreated to their partisan corners in response to the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, with Republicans praising the president and Democrats arguing he was too cozy with Putin.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the U.S. administration was making "sincere efforts" to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and suggested Moscow and Washington could reach a deal on nuclear arms control.