First Crimea, now Alaska? Not so fast, insists Russian President Vladimir Putin. During his annual question-and-answer session shown on state TV, a caller asked if annexing Alaska was the power-craving leader's next goal. The northern state's chilly climate, however, is apparently a turn-off for Putin.
"We have a northern country — 70 percent of our territory are in the north and the far north," said Putin, per a Russian news agency. "Is Alaska really in the Southern Hemisphere? It's cold there, too. Let's not get hot-headed." The state was a Russian territory until 1867, when it was sold to the United States for $7 million.
"Who needs Alaska?" he joked. Maybe Florida is something he'd be interested in.