Vladimir Putin has no interest in invading Alaska because it's too cold

Vladimir Putin has no interest in invading Alaska because it&#039;s too cold

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

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.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.