A Russian lawmaker has reportedly demanded America return Alaska to his country amid U.S.-led sanctions against Russia. He also asked for Fort Ross, located in California, as part of his requested “return of all Russian properties.”
Well, Good luck with that… Is this even a joke? Because it makes me laugh hard.
Russia’s economy is in a downward spiral, and Moscow now faces a $150 billion default in foreign-currency debt owed by both the government and Russian companies including Gazprom, Lukoil, and Sberbank.
Financial analysts have warned that it will be the most impactful emerging-market default since Argentina’s in 2005, and could be worse than Russia’s own emerging-market default in 1998.
For the record, way back in 1867, the U.S. bought Alaska from Russia.
Daily Wire reported that William H. Seward, then-Secretary of State, negotiated the purchase from Russia’s ruler Tsar Alexander II, the Emperor of the Russian Empire, King of Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland. The price: $7.2 million, which would be more than $138 million in today’s dollars, according to one inflation calculator.
Oleg Matveychev, a member of the State Duma, outlined on Russian state television a set of demands for the U.S. and Ukraine after Kiv’s “demilitarization is completed,” the Express newspaper in the United Kingdom reported.
The demands include the return of Alaska, which the U.S. purchased from the Russian Empire in 1867 as part of the Alaska Purchase, and the former Russian settlement of Fort Ross, California, 90 miles north of San Francisco.
Matveychev said in a statement:
“That was my next point. As well as the Antarctic. We discovered it, so it belongs to us.”
Well, the Republican governor of Alaska laughed at the Russian’s desire. Mike Dunleavy wrote on Twitter:
“Good luck with that! Not if we have something to say about it. We have hundreds of thousands of armed Alaskans and military members that will see it differently.”
Matveychev said and went further:
“We should be thinking about reparations from the damage that was caused by the sanctions and the war itself because that too costs money and we should get it back.”
The Daily Beast also reported that Matveychev made more wild claims, saying he wants “the return of all medals that have been unlawfully taken from our sportsmen during all Olympic games.”
More of this shocking demands from DailyWire:
In the face of devastating U.S. economic sanctions levied against Russia, the Kremlin issued its own sanctions against U.S. officials. In addition to Biden, Russia’s sanctions list includes U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Mark Milley and Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo.
The president’s son Hunter Biden and former senator and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton were also on the list.
“Earlier on Sunday Matveychev appeared to set the stage for persecuting Ukrainians who are resisting Russia’s invasion,” the Mail reported. “After a clip of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, Matveychev blasted the U.S.: ‘There isn’t a single country in the world that is as easily manipulated as America.’”
“‘Here’s what will be on the table after our victory… we’re going to raise the stakes,’ he promised. Matveychev began his list with ‘the dissolution of NATO,’ adding that ‘the presence of NATO in some countries is getting in our way,’” the Mail said.
He also demanded “extradition of all war criminals,” including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, former President Petro Poroshenko, and former deputy minister at the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs Anton Herashchenko.
Sources: DailyWire, Daily Mail, Daily Beast