The choice of Alaska for talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is being seen as symbolic by some Russian commentators, who are framing it as a nod to historic ties and a chance for closer relations in future.
It appears that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not been invited to the summit about the war in his homeland and representatives from Europe have also been excluded, fueling Kyiv’s worst fears that its future might be decided without its input.
But Moscow’s media and political elite have praised the choice of venue — a territory the United States purchased from the then-Russian Empire 158 years ago — framing it as a reminder that the U.S. and Russia are geographically close to one another and suggesting it could strengthen relations between the two nations.
“Russia and the United States are close neighbors, bordering each other,” Putin’s aide on foreign affairs, Yuri Ushakov, said on in an audio message shared by the Kremlin on Telegram last week.
Russia’s former ambassador to the U.S. added that it seemed “quite logical for our delegation to simply fly across the Bering Strait and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held specifically in Alaska.”
Vladimir Dzhabarov, a Russian senator, also called the location “very wise,” in an interview Tuesday with the state-owned news channel Russia24. He added that it was “very far from Ukraine,” which is around 5,000 miles away, and “very far from, unfortunately, Europe, which is now largely hostile to us.”
Russian commentators also praised the choice of Alaska.
Among them is Alexander Bobrov, who in an editorial for the state-controlled Russian broadcaster RT on Monday wrote that the summit was “more than just a meeting between two leaders,” and a “return to the logic of direct dialogue without intermediaries.”
The summit in Alaska — where Russian Orthodox churches still dot the landscape and names of places such as Nikolaevsk and Voznesensk speak to their shared history — could help build ties across the Bering Strait, which separates the two countries, Bobrov said.
“Alaska’s story began as Russian, continued as American — and now has the chance to become a shared chapter, if both sides choose to see it as an opportunity rather than a threat,” he added, referring to Russia’s sale of Alaska to the U.S. in 1867 for $7.2 million to avoid losing the territory to Britain and to raise funds.
The White House did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment about Russian praise for Alaska.
While the state invokes a historic cooperation between the two nations, Ukraine and Europe have urged both superpowers to include Kyiv