Best Deal in History: Alaska Purchase from Russia for $7.2 Million
The presidents of the United States and Russia are meeting in the US state of Alaska on Friday to discuss the Ukraine war and global affairs. This meeting is being described as important in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war.
But the state in which this meeting is going to take place. It is also of historical importance.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Putin will meet in Anchorage, the largest city in the state of Alaska. If this meeting had been taking place 150 years ago, it would have been Russian territory.
Today, Alaska is the largest state in the US in terms of area, but this area was owned by Russia years ago.
A ‘logical’ choice:
Alaska, located in the northwest of the United States, is just 50 miles from Russia at one point.
When US President Donald Trump announced the important meeting in Alaska, Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov commented that the logic of choosing this location was understandable.
He said that the Russian delegation only had to cross the Bering Strait for this important meeting.
Russia’s connection with Alaska dates back to the early 17th century, when Siberian natives reportedly first spoke of a vast expanse of land to the east.
An expedition led by Danish explorer and navigator Wojciech Bering discovered that the new land was not connected to the Russian mainland. But the expedition failed due to heavy fog.
In 1741, Bering was successful and some men were sent ashore. A series of trading expeditions followed, expanding the lucrative fur trade along the Pacific coasts of North America, Russia, and Europe, where sea otters were abundant.
But in the 19th century, British and American fur traders became bitter rivals of the Russians. This bitter rivalry was reconciled after a settlement in 1824, and Russia signed separate treaties with the United States and Britain that same year.
Alaska, rich in natural resources, has hundreds of rivers and many streams. It is the only US state that has no land route to the capital and can only be reached by boat or plane.
The Anchorage River is considered the world’s largest ‘seaplane base’, where 200 flights land or take off in the river daily.
The US President and Russian President Putin will meet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Base, the state’s largest military installation. This 64,000-acre military base is considered a key component of American preparations in the Arctic Ocean.
This is not the first time that Alaska has become a center of US global diplomacy. In March 2021, then-US President Joe Biden’s new diplomatic and national security team met with their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage.
No formal agenda was released for the meeting between President Trump and Putin, but the White House said the Alaska talks would be a “listening exercise” for President Trump to help him determine how to end the war.
President Trump had expressed optimism about the meeting last week, saying it would be a “major milestone” towards peace.
Ukrainian President Zelensky has made it clear that any agreement reached without consulting with Ukraine has no value.
Source: BBC
