Putin to Be 1st Russian Leader to Visit Alaska

Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a historical move, as he will be the first Russian leader to visit the US state of Alaska. 

Putin’s upcoming trip will mark an unprecedented moment in relations between the two nations, as no Russian or Soviet leader has ever set foot in the state.

During the Soviet era, leaders including Nikita Khrushchev, Alexei Kosygin, and Leonid Brezhnev visited the United States, while Mikhail Gorbachev made three trips and Boris Yeltsin five. 

In later years, former president Dmitry Medvedev toured Hawaii, New York, and Pittsburgh, while Putin himself has previously visited New York, Texas, Maryland, Georgia, and Maine — but never Alaska.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump announced he will meet Putin on August 15 in Alaska, as part of efforts to mediate an end to the war in Ukraine. 

The Kremlin confirmed the date and location, as reported by Russia’s Sputnik news agency.

The last visit by a Russian president to the United States took place a decade ago, in September 2015.

Historically, Alaska was sold by Imperial Russia to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million. 

It became the 49th U.S. state on January 3, 1959. 

Geographically, it is separated from the mainland United States, positioned northwest of Canada and divided from Russian territory by the Bering Strait.