President Donald Trump appeared to excuse President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to accept an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

Trump started the engagement well on Friday. The president graced the Russian leader with a red carpet reception at Alaska’s Elmendorf Air Force Base. But while he greeted Putin warmly, the president then had the U.S. military send a very different message. In a stark display of U.S. military power, Trump had Putin walk with him under an overflight by four F-35 fighter jets, a B-2 strategic bomber, and between an assembled line of F-22 fighter jets. It was a very public psychological gamesmanship that Putin revels in and will not have enjoyed. The public presentation of dominant strength over a potential adversary is a defining hallmark of Putin’s leadership style.