Overview

• President Trump has proposed exchanging Ukrainian territory for Russian-held lands as part of a peace settlement during his August 15 meeting with President Putin in Alaska.
• His recent verbal slip referring to Alaska as “Russia” has fueled online speculation and given Russian state-aligned media fresh material to revive century-old grievances over the 1867 sale.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Western officials have firmly rejected any land concessions, insisting Russia must not be rewarded for its aggression.
• Legal experts note that the U.S. president does not have the authority to unilaterally sell or cede a state, making any transfer of Alaska legally impossible.
• Russian propagandists and officials, including Olga Skabeyeva and Dmitry Medvedev, are amplifying the summit’s symbolism to reinforce domestic nationalist narratives.