Symbolism behind display of US military might during Putin's arrival to Alaska VIDEO

As Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin touched down in Alaska for the historic summit to discuss the future of Ukraine on August 15, the Russian leader was seemingly met with a show of strength by his US counterpart.

As the two leaders strutted down the red carpet in Anchorage, the US president surprised Putin with a military display. While walking to the podium to they were greeted by a military flyover of a US BS B2 stealth bomber, flanked by four F-35s.

The five planes flew overhead in an arrow formation, close to the ground, resulting in a thunderous noise. According to The War Zone’s reporting, the US president looked impressed by the display of military might, clapping afterwards to honour the pilots.

This gesture has been wrongly attributed by some Russian media outlets as having been made by Trump to Putin.

According to two officials, two B-2 bombers were flown into the base ahead of Friday's summit; the F-35 jets arrived from nearby Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. The F-22 planes were based out of Elmendorf.

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It was not immediately clear whether Trump personally ordered the bombers and the flyover to the Air Force base as a kind of show of force ahead of his discussions with Russia, which is also a nuclear power.

The B-2 is considered a symbol of US power, as the bombers can fly around the world nonstop and can carry both conventional and nuclear munitions. The stealth B-2 bombers are the same kind used by the US during June's Operation Midnight Hammer, in which seven of the aircraft flew 36 hours straight from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to Iran, where they dropped more than a dozen bunker-buster bombs.

In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly praised the power of the B-2 aircraft and the skill of its pilots, announcing on August 6 that his administration ordered "new and enhanced" B-2 aircraft.

By Nazrin Sadigova