This week will mark the first time Russian President Vladimir Putin has set foot on American soil in almost a decade.
Mr Putin is set to meet with US President Donald Trump on Friday, local time, talking a potential peace deal which could see parts of Ukraine handed over to Russia.
Mr Trump took to his Truth Social platform to announce the meeting’s location — a former Russian territory.
The pair will meet in the US state of Alaska, sold by Russia more than 158 years ago.
Putin aide Yury Ushakov said the location was logical, stating the interests of both nations “converged” in the northern state.
"So it does make sense if our delegation simply crosses the Bering Strait and if such an important and expected meeting between the two leaders takes place specifically in Alaska," he said.
"We expect this process will not be simple, but we will be engaged in it actively and consistently."
Russia's lasting influence in Alaska
Russian influence still endures in parts of the remote north-western state, which extends to just a few kilometres from the Russian border.
The Russian empire sold the territory to Washington for $US7.2 million ($11.04 million) in 1867 — equal to about $US156.3 million ($239.64 million) in today’s currency.
One of the most famous statements about the proximity of Alaska and Russia was made in 2008 by Sarah Palin, the state's then-governor and at the time vice presidential nominee.
"They're our next-door neighbours, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska," Ms Palin said.
While it is not actually possible to see Russia from the Alaskan mainland, two islands facing each other in the Bering Strait are separated by just 4 kilometres.
Russia's Big Diomede island is just west of the American Little Diomede island, where a few dozen people live.
Further south, two Russians landed on the remote St. Lawrence island — which is a few dozen miles from the Russian coast — to seek asylum in October 2022.
[map] They fled just weeks after Mr Putin ordered an unpopular mobilisation of citizens to boost his invasion of Ukraine.
The state is a stronghold for the Russian Orthodox Church, which has more than 35 locations dotted across the coastline.
Some Orthodox communities in the region still speak Russian.
However Russia is ostensibly not interested in reclaiming the territory it once held, with Mr Putin saying in 2014 that Alaska is "too cold".
Russian and Ukrainian territory 'very complicated'
Following Mr Trump’s announcement, the Kremlin also confirmed the August 15 meeting.
The summit has been in the works since Mr Trump’s return to office seven months ago, and Mr Putin had been given an August 8 deadline to agree to a deal.
Asked whether a peace deal would involve Ukraine ceding territory to Russia, Mr Trump said it was "very complicated".
"But we’re going to get some back, we’re going to get some switched," he said.
"There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both."
Russia has annexed the Crimean Peninsula for more than a decade, and its forces control much of Ukraine’s Donbas region, made up of Donetsk and Luhansk.
It also has some military control of Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
[ukraine map] In 2022 it formally annexed all four provinces — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — in a move condemned by the international community.
The exact location of the Alaska meeting has not been announced.
Mr Ushakov noted Russia "would naturally expect" any future meeting between both leaders would be held on Russian territory.
He added "an invitation to that effect" had already been made.
Zelenskyy warns against excluding Ukraine from peace talks
Mr Trump’s announcement made no mention of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and it remains unclear whether he will be invited to peace talks.
A White House official said Mr Trump was open to holding a trilateral summit the day after his meeting with Mr Putin.
Mr Zelenskyy has since warned any deal without Kyiv at the table would be unable to bring an end to the war.
"The answer to the Ukrainian territorial issue is already in the Constitution of Ukraine," he said in a statement.
"No one will and cannot deviate from this. Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.
"Any solutions that are against us, any solutions that are without Ukraine, are at the same time solutions against peace."
According to CBS, a senior White House official said it was still possible Mr Zelenskyy could be involved in some capacity for the Friday meeting.
ABC/AFP
