#Throwback: Putin jokes about ’reunifying’ Alaska: ’We’re far north enough! Besides, it’s cold there too!’

#Throwback: Putin jokes about ’reunifying’ Alaska: ’We’re far north enough! Besides, it’s cold there too!’ In 2014, President Vladimir Putin humorously addressed the idea of Alaska rejoining Russia. “Why do you need it?” he quipped during his annual Q&A session, noting that the 49th US state was once sold for $7.2 mln in gold. He pointed out that Russia is a northern country, with 70% in the Far North, and that Alaska is just as cold. “Let’s not get heated up about that,“ Putin jokingly concluded. September 22 marked the 240th anniversary of the establishment of first permanent Russian settlement in Alaska. The Three Saints Bay colony was founded on Kodiak Island in 1784 by Russian fur trader, Grigory Shelikhov. In March 1867, a treaty on purchasing Alaska was signed between William H. Seward, then United States Secretary of State, and Tsar Alexander II of Russia. Subscribe to [club80289214|@SputnikInt] Source: Sputnik International