Lawmakers reject Russian official's request to return Alaska: 'Never, ever, ever'

Russian parliament member Oleg Matveychev on a TV program addressed waves of sanctions against Russia in response to the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, saying leaders should “think about reparations.”

“The harm these sanctions caused us cost money. Return of possessions, including possessions of the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and even parts of Russia that are now occupied by the United States,” Matveychev said on Sunday, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

The host of the show asked Matveychev about the return of Alaska and Fort Ross, which was established by Russians in California, according to the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

“This is my next point – recognizing Alaska, Fort Ross and Antarctica,” Matveychev responded, according to the Anchorage Daily News. “We actually discovered it, so it rightfully belongs to us.”

The United States reached an agreement to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million in 1867. Alaska was admitted as a state in 1959.

Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski balked at the statement, tweeting coverage of the comments and a gif of Taylor Swift with the caption “That will never, ever, ever happen!”

Russia should spend their money developing their own country instead of trying to take over another country.

Yakutsk is the largest city in the vast Lena valley in east-central Siberia. It is located on the west bank of that river, and the highway up from the main east-west travel corridor arrives at the east bank. There is no bridge, just a ferry which cannot run at certain times of year due to ice floes. Then the river freezes entirely and traffic has to cross much further north to get across on the ice.

Putin promised them a bridge years ago but so far, no bridge. But there’s lots of money available to blow up buildings in Ukraine for no rational reason.

Putin had choices in front of him and all the power any man could possibly want to run his country the way he saw fit, and these are the choices he has made. These choices will probably lead to something between severe recession and absolute destruction of his country. He is an idiot.

We used to think of him as one of the few global leaders who sensibly opposed globalism, but this is no sensible opposition, to kill people on an epic scale in another country, and his own people in equal or larger numbers. And that is aside from any future consequences which could be staggering. If he goes from bad to worse and invades any NATO territory, it is game over for Russia. We might take a substantial hit ourselves, but I am guessing that Russia would lose everything of value, our targetting is probably entirely military and infra-structure related, why bother to level cities? What was left of Russia after that would be easy pickings for a variety of interested parties and there would be no Russia at all in the future world.

Would anyone miss them?

That would be letting them off cheap.

Take the $7.2 million, and apply commercial interest rates to it for the 155 years since the purchase. Don’t forget to apply the effects of inflation in each year. This would give you the adjusted cost basis if the property.

Then, apply a reasonable appreciation to real estate, maybe 5% per year.

And finally, add in the value of the resources (mainly oil and gas) that the Russians gave away with the sale.

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